LEGO praised after ending agreement with Daily Mail as ‘stop funding hate’ complaint goes viral

They're earning plenty of plaudits. 12,562 shares and 22k likes already.

A few days ago, we brought you the alternate Christmas advert from the Stop Funding Hate campaign. Thousands of people argued that their message was far more important than the John Lewis one because the organisation aimed to 'brand jam' the latest John Lewis advert. Why? Well, John Lewis is just one of the many companies that buy advertising in newspapers that are renowned for  spreading fear, racism, hatred, hostility, xenophobia and jingoistic views. The English edition of The Daily Mail is arguably the biggest perpetrator of this and one of their commercial partners, LEGO , have already acted after they decided to cut ties with The Daily Mail for the " foreseeable future". https://twitter.com/LEGO_Group/status/797365156087001088 LEGO decided to end any commercial interests that they have with the newspaper after this complaint from a man named Bob Jones went viral on Facebook. Here it is, along with LEGOS's reply.

Dear Lego.

I love Lego. My 6 year old son loves Lego. He inherited all of mine three years ago and his collection has multiplied many times since. We spend time going to Brickies, our local Lego club. All he wants for Christmas is Lego, and we're even taking him to Windsor for a stay in the Lego hotel at Christmas.

It seems you can do no wrong.

But I'm concerned. For a few years now you have done free giveaways in the Daily Mail newspaper. And while holding back that wretching feeling, I've paid for a copy to get the free Lego pack. (And then promptly binned the paper) The poly bag packs usually end up as part of my sons advent calendar. Which he loves. But I'm afraid to say I can no longer do it.

While I disagree with their political stand I can accept their right to have it. But lately their headlines have gone beyond offering a right wing opinion. Headlines that do nothing but create distrust of foreigners, blame immigrants for everything, and as of yesterday are now having a go at top judges in the U.K. for being gay while making a legal judgment. Their stories have gone a little too far. (A lot too far)

It genuinely bothers me, that a great progressive company like yours supports this "news" paper, helping increase its circulation.

Lego, to me has always been an inclusive product. Breaking barriers between gender, building children's imagination and confidence to do their own thing. Something adults and children can and do, bond over.

Your links to the Daily Mail are wrong. And a company like yours shouldn't be supporting them. And as crap as I feel telling my son he can't have the free Lego kit that he sees on the front of the paper in the store, I have explained to him that the paper it is attached to is the sort of paper that tells lies about people, like some of his friends from school. Even my six year old understands that what they print is wrong.

I'm sure I'm not the only person with this opinion. And I'm sure many people would like to know if you intend to keep supporting this publication in the future.

#stopfundinghate #nolego

Please share to get this message out

Thanks

======================================= Update:7th November.. Lego responded.. it's below in the comments...

this is my response to their reply.. I am also communicating with the directly via email.. I know many people have also done the same.. please keep it up.. and thank you everyone for your support.. for what I started, and your love of Lego enough to try and get them to change. My response..

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Hi Lego.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate that fact that you read the message.

I also appreciate the response to the email I sent on Sunday linking to the Facebook thread, which has grown considerably since I originally messaged.

In both cases I do feel a little disappointed by the response. And already, you can see on the thread, that many of the people aren’t happy either. I'm not sure you have fully understood the point I am trying to make.

I understand and fully except opposing political view. Without it there is no discussion or change. I also understand the media will also have its own bias. But the problem is that I do not see the Daily Mail as just having a political opinion for the right anymore.

Recent headlines and stories, both in print and online, have gone beyond opinion. They have moved into unashamed discrimination towards sections of our society. This is something that has recently been growing in the UK and is causing more problems for some people over here.

Discrimination isn't a political stance. It's not a matter of belief. It's just fundamentally wrong.

Targeting set groups of people and casting them all in a negative light, doesn't reflect the standards your company projects. Discrimination breeds xenophobia, racism and distrust of people, undeserving of it.

I ask you to look into recent headlines of the Daily Mail. Dismiss the political opinion and see what's left. I know I'm not alone in seeing that it’s something that just fuels hate.

I've spent the weekend reading as many of the comments on this thread as possible. The majority, if not all, are in full support of you as a company, yet don’t understand why you'd choose to be associated with the Daily Mail, because of how they are perceived. There is disbelief that this would be the best route you could take in getting your product out to children.

Your giveaways undoubtedly help increase circulation of the Daily Mail. Therefore indirectly, your company helps spread its message. That is the link people make, and this is what they acknowldge. Not that some children are getting the chance to play with Lego

I'd like to think, as you stated in your email to me, that this will go further up in the company. The passion generated here, has filled your Facebook page and that must be of some interest to the company owners. You must prefer your pages to be filled with the creations and exploits of your Lego fans?

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Bob Jones.

Here's LEGO's reply. LEGO's stance regarding The Daily Mail and listening to their customers has earned them plenty of plaudits. https://twitter.com/Glinner/status/797384852316311553 https://twitter.com/charltonbrooker/status/797384820921954304 https://twitter.com/SusanCalman/status/797386103372267521 https://twitter.com/StopFundingHate/status/797377816757145600 https://twitter.com/d0ug7a5/status/797397122605871104 There are much more compliments in the original Facebook post, included below.