Greenpeace gets Lego to end ties with Shell
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The reading
Danish toy maker Lego said on Thursday that it will not sign a new deal with the oil company Shell. They had a partnership in which Lego made toys with the Shell logo on them. Shell sold the toys in its gas stations in 26 countries. The contract was worth $110 million. Lego made this decision after the environmental group Greenpeace made a video using Lego bricks that showed Shell in the Arctic Ocean. It shows oil filling the water in the Arctic after an oil spill. Lego people and polar bears in the video become covered in oil. At the end of the video, oil has covered everything, except a Shell flag. The video has become Greenpeace's most-watched viral video in its history.
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Greenpeace's video campaign ran for three months. Over a million people emailed Lego asking it to end its deal with Shell. Greenpeace was very happy that Lego will end the partnership. A statement on the Greenpeace website said: "Thanks a million, Lego". It added: "We're super happy Lego has finally decided to do the right thing. It's a massive victory." Lego's CEO said he made the decision because he didn't want the company to be part of the environmental campaign. He said Greenpeace should have spoken to Shell instead of making the video. Shell had plans to drill in the Arctic in 2013 or 2014 but stopped because of technical problems. It has not yet decided whether or not to start in 2015.
Sources:
- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/lego-to-scrap-shell-deal-after-arctic-protest-1.2793537
- http://www.businessinsider.com/lego-ends-shell-deal-after-greenpeace-viral-video-2014-10#ixzz3FhARZXy3
- http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/save-the-arctic-lego-dumps-shell/blog/50917/
