Conservation, environment, water and wildlife
Lego drops Shell after public pressure over Arctic drilling
Green Ideas editorial team
Lego will stop making Shell-branded toys following a prolonged campaign by Greenpeace, including a viral video, protesting Arctic oil drilling.
Lego Group chief executive Jørgen Vig Knudstorp announced on Wednesday [8 October] the toy manufacturer would fulfil its existing contract with the multinational oil and gas company but after that would not renew the co-promotion which began in 2011.
“We want to clarify that as things currently stand we will not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell when the present contract ends,” Mr Vig Knudstorp says in a press release.
Lego and Shell have a relationship that began in the 1960s.
Campaign reaches millions
The announcement came after a campaign by Greenpeace saw more than one million people signing a petition and a viral video was viewed well over six million times.
The petition called on the toy company to stop promoting Shell’s brand because of its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic, and the video depicts a Lego landscape being submerged in oil (www.greenideas.co.nz, 1 August).
Caught in the middle
In his announcement Mr Vig Knudstorp stressed Greenpeace should not have brought the Lego brand into a dispute it sees as between the environment activists and Shell.
“[Lego] should never have become part of Greenpeace’s dispute with Shell”, he says.
A victory for Greenpeace
In a separate media release Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Ian Duff calls the announcement a major blow to Shell.
“It [Shell] desperately needs partners like Lego to help give it respectability and repair the major brand damage it suffered after its last Arctic misadventure. Lego’s withdrawal from a 50 year relationship with Shell clearly shows that strategy will not work.”
A spokesperson for Shell told the Guardian (UK) the company respects the “right of individuals and organisations to engage in a free and frank exchange of views about meeting the world’s growing energy needs.”
In August Shell submitted new plans for Arctic offshore drilling.
Related links
Viral video petitions Lego to stop promoting Shell oil to kids
Oil spill prevention and response in the US Arctic Ocean report - Pew Research Centre
Lego ends 50 year link with Shell, after one million people respond to Save the Arctic campaign – Greenpeace
Lego ends Shell partnership following Greenpeace campaign – Guardian
Shell submits a plan for new exploration of Alaskan Arctic oil – New York Times
Comment on Greenpeace campaign and the LEGO® brand – Lego Group