Ethical
The Danish toy manufacturer Lego has been under fire in 2012 for creating a new toy line for girls, with some groups calling the line feminist of sexist. As much of the toy industry has been struggling, Lego, which mostly appealed to boys with colored blocks, pirate ships and buildings, decided to expand the line to appeal to young girls as well. The transition worked but not with backlash of groups like the Spark Movement which aims to end “sexualization” of women and girls in the media
With financial struggles during the recession of late, many companies have looked to think of ways to expand and grow their business and venture into something out of their norm. Lego was able to do so successfully by creating a new line of toys to go along with their fairly successful lines such as “Lego City” and “Star Wars”. They decided to create a line specifically for young girls Lego Friends which feature “Ladyfigs” which is a cast of female dolls. The dolls come in an assortment of backdrops such like “Butterfly Beauty Shop”, “Andrea’s Bunny House” and many others that involve puppies, horses and other animals. These Ladyfigs come with curvy figures which caused more backfire. The SPARK movement heavily criticized the new line Lego Friends calling it a “a pink Barbielicious product line for girls”. The backdrops that come with the toys didn’t help calm the storm for Lego as they feature acitivities stereotypically performed by teenage girls such as hanging out at the café, going to a beauty salon, lounging at the pool with drinks etc. Despite the backlash from groups such like SPARK, the new line helped Lego generate 36% more profit in the first half of 2012 compared to 2011 figures. In a struggling economy, increases in profits like such is a great news, even if it comes with some criticism.
With financial struggles during the recession of late, many companies have looked to think of ways to expand and grow their business and venture into something out of their norm. Lego was able to do so successfully by creating a new line of toys to go along with their fairly successful lines such as “Lego City” and “Star Wars”. They decided to create a line specifically for young girls Lego Friends which feature “Ladyfigs” which is a cast of female dolls. The dolls come in an assortment of backdrops such like “Butterfly Beauty Shop”, “Andrea’s Bunny House” and many others that involve puppies, horses and other animals. These Ladyfigs come with curvy figures which caused more backfire. The SPARK movement heavily criticized the new line Lego Friends calling it a “a pink Barbielicious product line for girls”. The backdrops that come with the toys didn’t help calm the storm for Lego as they feature acitivities stereotypically performed by teenage girls such as hanging out at the café, going to a beauty salon, lounging at the pool with drinks etc. Despite the backlash from groups such like SPARK, the new line helped Lego generate 36% more profit in the first half of 2012 compared to 2011 figures. In a struggling economy, increases in profits like such is a great news, even if it comes with some criticism.