Lego is for LIFE (part one)

As a first year copywriter at Red and Yellow we have to keep a weekly advertising blog- which is great except, well... I generally despise advertising. You may be thinking to yourself; "Well then why the hell is she paying an exorbitant amount of money that will cripple her financially for the next seven years, on ADVERTISING school?". The answer is simple my dear readers.

Gandhi said; "Be the change you want to see in the world" and I took that quite literally! I don’t watch TV, subscribe to brands or even follow them on Twitter because I HATE the clichéd, mindless punting of shit I don’t need in a manner that only really appeals to those with lesser brains- If I have to bare witness to one more perfume ad with a beautiful man or woman in a situation completely unrelated to the actual product (think Brad Pitt in the latest Chanel ad) I will kill a nursery full of baby pandas. I want to create intelligent ads that are AS interesting to read as actual articles and spark ideas that enrich people’s lives for brands that I believe in! I want to change what I hate into what I love and after researching ad campaign after ad campaign I have found that there are other people in the advertising world that share my ideals.

If I could pick one thing that has ever been invented in the history of recorded time to have invented myself (Nutella included), it would be Lego. Since that isn't really possible (or at least probable until time travel is sorted out) I will settle for becoming a part of their creative team who are behind some of the best ads I have yet to come across.

Lego's motto is "Det bedste er illcke for godt" which roughly translates to "Only the best is the best" is a concept that Red and Yellow taught me in our orientation week as "Good enough is not good enough"- which is most probably why they have been awarded the title of  "Toy of the Century"... twice. Their un-paralleled quality and originality coupled with their mission of expanding children's imagination through creativity, fun and learning makes Lego the brand I would whole-heartedly align myself with.

I still own Lego and will shamelessly admit that I still play with it, in fact the last time I bought a set was some time last year. The age recommendation is 6- 99, which I think is a genius way of conveying the spirit of Lego being a lifestyle and not just a passing fad such as "Bratz" or those creepy fashion dolls sporting human post-pubescent bodies with the head of a cat, which freaked me out quite significantly. I love that there are Lego sets to suite everyone! My best-loved sets are the movie based ones which include my all-time favorites such as: Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

For the more "grown up" group of Lego lovers there is a line of architectural wonders of the world such as the Empire State building, Rockefeller center, the Taj Mahal, the Pantheon and even Lego head quarters to name but a few. I think the magic of Lego lies in the limitlessness of what you can create. You are not bound by the picture on the box and many people take it to many levels above "the next level" by creating life sized versions of cars, characters, buildings and many other seemingly unfathomable things!

Lego's many advertising campaigns clearly demonstrate their brand values of imagination, creativity and fun. These ideals are most clearly demonstrated by the ads I have included in this blog that I will give a quick review of. I will post this in two parts since there are so many amazing campaigns to cover.

The Beginning by Ogilvy, Costa Rica. This ad clearly illustrates creativity and out of the proverbial box thinking. It implies that the bricks are the building blocks of the universe and every conceivable object was spawned from these humble beginnings, similarly almost anything can be made of Lego, entire worlds only confined to the limits of your imagination.

 Drugs/Sex/Violence  by Naga DDB/Rapp Malaysia.

I think this is an exemplary example of a thought provoking, evocative advert aimed at the parents who buy Lego for their children. It would not be in a publication that would frequented by children but instead somewhere where educated parents could ponder over it and its very real implications. This advert does not condone mindless TV watching and instead advocates the free play and creative thinking that Lego provides. I think this is an absolutely marvelously executed ad using the Lego bricks to censor the inappropriate topics on TV that children are exposed to, by pixelation.

Gold Lion Plane/Dinosaur/Boat/Tank by Blattler Brunner, Pittsburg. 

This simple, clean ad is very reminiscent of a time in my childhood where I made entire worlds out of nothing that even remotely resembled what was in my head, yet that made no difference because I saw the world through my own rainbow coloured glasses. I think this ads aim is to transport parents back into this frame of mind to motivate them to provide their children with the same magic they encountered all those years ago. I love how they have used  primary colours (and green) to compliment the theme of simplicity that is so prominent in this ad. The shadow is the splash of magic in this ad, hinting at the creativity driven worlds that exist in our heads and that of our children. It shows how one would have to exercise their imagination instead of being handed things on a platter (think already assembled toys that allow little room for invention and imagination), and thus promote the educational and mental stimulation aspects of the product.

I look forward to analysing the rest of the ads that I have selected next week in part two of Lego is for life.

I welcome your feedback and thank you for reading my ramblings.