You may have recently come across an article that talks about LEGO removing gender bias in their toys. If you haven’t you can find it here.
The summary is that research conducted on behalf of LEGO has encouraged the company to address gender bias in their products and marketing.
Some people have taken this to mean no more LEGO Friends. That’s not happening. LEGO Friends will be back in 2022 and so will the minidoll. This has been confirmed by LEGO directly.
This isn’t really a surprise – LEGO Friends is the best LEGO theme^ and one of the company’s top performing lines.
While it’s not clear exactly how the products will change from the move to address gender bias it’s clear what LEGO is aiming to do in terms of marketing.
Themes like DOTS included a lot of young girls in their initial marketing materials and product images. In fact I don’t recall seeing any boys in the marketing materials. There certainly weren’t boys featured on any of the first wave bracelet packaging. This created an implied gender bias that DOTS was only for girls. I’m sure there are also countless examples the other way around.
Featuring more gender balance in packaging and marketing images is a simple change that shouldn’t upset anybody.
At the end of the day this is a business decision for LEGO. They want to increase sales by getting more boys buying Friends and more girls buying Stuntz. No LEGO theme needs to be explicitly FOR BOYS or FOR GIRLS. That’s just dumb.
^ This is a fact and not just my opinion. Friends rules.
if the sets are good, no matters boys nor girls – they would love it and ask their parents to buy it.
How horrible for the city series in last 5 to 10 years – except this year they released different kind of police stations – one direction – single mind (compare to friends, they have been released a lot of sets with multi direction)
I have been giving up for Lego City few years – all those sets are expensive, bulky, bad design and one dimension – how could the kids get attract?
A small but vital correction: Friends is Lego’s best -current- theme. The best theme of all time is, of course, Elves.
:O
The world’s gone mad. Lego is a TOY that should be enjoyed irrespective of gender. Sign that things have gone too far when even a simple plastic brick becomes a political issue………
“Lego is a TOY that should be enjoyed irrespective of gender.”
That’s the point of what LEGO are doing. Trying to make all their products appeal to all genders.
This isn’t political. It’s commercial.
“At the end of the day this is a business decision for LEGO. They want to increase sales by getting more boys buying Friends and more girls buying Stuntz.”
Exactly – all under the guise of having a social conscience…
Good on ya Michael!