Lego toys and the society we build
Some weeks ago, I wrote a brief letter to Lego about my concerns regarding their increased focus on conflict based play:
This is something I have long thought about writing. A few days ago, I stumbled upon a recent study (Bartneck et al, 2013) that finally got me going. The study is mostly about Lego figure faces, and how they increasingly have become angrier looking lately. But Bartneck’s research team also observed that “LEGO has a considerable array of weapon systems in their program” and that the company “is moving towards more conflict based play themes.”
It is the last part that worries me the most. Playing with LEGO has for many decades been a great way to develop creativity and having fun constructing things together. Substantial amounts of research (Biglan et al, 2012, provides a summary) shows that if we want a well functioning society, we should encourage prosocial behaviors, such as cooperation - not conflict! This is extremely important when it comes to our children, and as parents we could use the help of their favorite toys, instead of having to work against them.
LEGO. Please reconsider where you are headed, and consider your legacy. Do you want to help build a hostile or friendly society? You have the opportunity to make a difference for the coming generations.
Bartneck, C., Obaid, M., & Zawieska, K. (2013). Agents With Faces-What Can We Learn From LEGO Minifigures? Retrieved from http://bartneck.de/publications/2013/agentsWithFaces/bartneckLEGOAgent.pdf via http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.dk/2013/06/lego-figures-are-getting-angrier.html
Biglan, A., Flay, B. R., Embry, D. D., & Sandler, I. N. (2012). The critical role of nurturing environments for promoting human well-being. The American psychologist, 67(4), 257–271. doi:10.1037/a0026796
I posted the letter on Legos Facebook wall, on Google+ and Twitter. No response from them there. A couple of days later I also sent the letter via Legos website. This time I got a response, within 24h. Oddly, the response was written in Swedish, unlike my letter, and the grammar in their response indicates either a non-native writer, or a translation program at work. Here is a translation of the response from Lego:
Hello Magnus,
Thank you for contacting LEGO ® Service.
It’s always fun and hear from a huge LEGO fan, We are grateful that you have contacted us about this Magnus. We take feedback from our LEGO fans seriously. I have forwarded this to my design team in Denmark. and we will review what you’ve told before us today.
Our designers have a major contract to manufacture LEGO sets within a particular area such as the police and thief, such as seeing the cops and thieves a little angrier out because we want so clearly them not to get away. If we check on our absolutely fabulous Friends sets we see all smiles and everyone is happy. These terms are made from LEGO ® Group. But when it comes Starwars ™ or Super Heroes ™, we at LEGO only borrowed their expression in the movies and books.
Well. I hadn’t really expected much of a reaction. But this is almost worse. Not the least little hint of Lego having considered that they might have some responsibility for the impact that their products make on the world. And mentioning Lego Friends as “fabulous” is awful. Please have a look at the two excellent videos about Lego by Feminist Frequency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmRxGLn0Bk
I’m not sure how, or if, I should reply to Lego. Is it even possible to get them to react in a way that shows some understanding of the issues that I (and many others) try to call attention to?
