The Greenpeace campaign worked. Lego will dump Shell.
You might recall the emotive campaign staged by the environmental activist group earlier this year. If not, this video will bring you up to speed.
It turns out the efforts of Greenpeace have paid off.
In a statement released by CEO of the Lego group, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the company said they would not renew the co-promotion contract.
“The long-term co-promotion contract we entered with Shell in 2011 delivers on the objective of bringing Lego bricks into the hands of many children, and we will honour it – as we would with any contract we enter,” the statement read.
“We continuously consider many different ways of how to deliver on our promise of bringing creative play to more children.
We want to clarify that as things currently stand we will not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell when the present contract ends.
Three months ago Greenpeace began its campaign to get the toy giant to end the partnership with the oil company. Lego men were drowned in oil followed by children being put at the heart of the campaign.
“During Greenpeace’s three month campaign, more than one million people signed a petition calling on Lego to stop promoting Shell’s brand because of its plans to drill for oil in the pristine Arctic,” the Greenpeace release states.
“In stark contrast to Shell, Lego’s policies include a commitment to produce more renewable energy than they use, phase out oil in their products and, in cooperation with its partners, leave a better world for future generations.”
Within the statement about the ending of the decades long partnership, Lego’s Knudstorp says the brand should never have become a part of Greenpeace’s campaign against Shell.
“The Greenpeace campaign uses the Lego brand to target Shell,” he said. “As we have stated before, we firmly believe Greenpeace ought to have a direct conversation with Shell. The Lego brand, and everyone who enjoys creative play, should never have become part of Greenpeace’s dispute with Shell.”
The partnership has been ongoing since the 1960s with numerous play sets branded with the Shell logo.
