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Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

joshsummers.co.uk

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Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#31

Post by legoisbest »

pavlov wrote: post #24
legoisbest wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does crop up all the time. You should also mention though that Lego still make and sell a lot of universal building sets. In Lego stores there are walls of bricks where you can select any bits you want. Yes, there has been a big rise in themed and licensed sets, and yes, some of them have specialised building parts that you can only really use in the set. But that's just part of the trend over the last few decad…

Sure. I wasn't exactly criticising Lego, just pointing out that the appeal of the ad is inextricably linked to the ideal behind the product. Lego is a business, of course. Those ABS plastic blocks are practically indestructible, so they're not going to grow by selling replacements for universal blocks...

It's so impressive that I can take out a 30 year old Lego brick, and it "works" exactly the same as it did 30 years ago. Sure, the white ones have faded a little, but they still function just as they should.

Not to put the knife in too hard, but megablocks and other competitors don't even function properly when they're new out of the packet.

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#32

Post by facepalm »

hpaavola wrote: post #3

Back when we were kids there was only one type of Lego, the type that was meant for everybody. Now they have their own line for girls, Lego Friends. And Lego Friends is just stupid http://seasonaldepressioncomic.com/2014/12/06/lego-friends/

Just because somebody drew a cartoon doesn't make it true. What exactly is supposedly stupid about Lego friends? That it's not about robots and cars and Star Trek? But then Sarkeezian was really condescending about Lego ads that advertised building cars. So I guess we are limited to building gender neutral houses and random heaps of colored blocks to express our individuality?

As for the truth of the cartoon: there are more "neutral" Lego kits than any average kid could possibly afford to buy. Presumably girls weren't buying, that's why Lego made "friends".

I'd prefer my daughter to play with "friends" than no playing with Lego at all, although to be honest I am not really worried.

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#33

Post by legoisbest »

agumonkey wrote: post #4
pavlov wrote: post #2

Both the product and the ad are highly representative of '70s Nordic social ethics and aesthetics. A single product line called "Universal Building Sets" is an almost Platonic ideal of democratic creativity. Today's Lego has 33 product lines: http://www.lego.com/en-us/products When your Legos are branded as "Chima", "Bionicle", "Ninjago", "Marvel(tm) Super Heroes" or "Disney(r) Star Wars(tm)", it's expected that you…

They had no choice, the "univeral building blocks" patent ended not long ago, facing competition now, they had to find sustainable cash flow.

The competition is terrible though. Have you tried assembling any other "compatible" building set?

The bricks aren't finished properly, some just pop off, and it all falls to bits easily.

I'd say the nearest competition to Lego is probably 60% the quality of Lego.

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#34

Post by pavlov »

jamespo wrote: post #22
pavlov wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't want companies to decide what products you buy? How does that work? I mean, you can only buy something if they'll sell it...

Or you can buy something else and the company can go bust.

Still, you can only buy something else within the range of options on the market.

Ideally companies adjust their product lines based on customer demand. In reality it's mostly determined by other factors like supply chain, internal politics, competitor envy, random advice from consultants, need to meet quarterly growth goals, etc.

For example, high-fructose corn syrup has become a major ingredient of many American food products within the past 20+ years. That didn't happen because of consumer demand, and consumers don't have an easy way to vote against it.

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#35

Post by zeeshanm »

tree_of_item wrote: post #25
zeeshanm wrote: post #5

The cool thing about legos is you get instant gratification for building stuff. My 2-year-old nephew was building with legos the other day and you know what he said after he finished building: "moma." He was so happy he wanted to go show his mom what he had built. Isn't that beautiful?

Maybe he wanted you to secure space for his creation at http://www.moma.org/ ? At least he's modest.

Probably an oversight on my part not to think of this ;-)

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#36

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

ps4fanboy wrote: post #8
hpaavola wrote: post #3

Back when we were kids there was only one type of Lego, the type that was meant for everybody. Now they have their own line for girls, Lego Friends. And Lego Friends is just stupid http://seasonaldepressioncomic.com/2014/12/06/lego-friends/

What comes first, the desire for gendered products or the gendered products?

The former is a generalisation, a trend that every right-minded thinker accepts. Deriving the latter from that, unfortunately, leads to a restriction. Witness the beauty of the free market which caters to the mass-appeal middle of the road, ignoring the beautiful anomalies at the edges.

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#37

Post by kalleboo »

ps4fanboy wrote: post #8
hpaavola wrote: post #3

Back when we were kids there was only one type of Lego, the type that was meant for everybody. Now they have their own line for girls, Lego Friends. And Lego Friends is just stupid http://seasonaldepressioncomic.com/2014/12/06/lego-friends/

What comes first, the desire for gendered products or the gendered products?

A gendered society

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#39

Post by facepalm »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #36
ps4fanboy wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What comes first, the desire for gendered products or the gendered products?

The former is a generalisation, a trend that every right-minded thinker accepts. Deriving the latter from that, unfortunately, leads to a restriction. Witness the beauty of the free market which caters to the mass-appeal middle of the road, ignoring the beautiful anomalies at the edges.

And yet now there are more Lego kits than 40 years ago. Maybe there is something among them for the anomal clients as well?

Do you reckon socialism does a better job with providing individualistic toys? Or what alternative to free markets would you propose?

Re: Lego’s 1981 Ad Campaign

#40

Post by icebraining »

pavlov wrote: post #34
jamespo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you can buy something else and the company can go bust.

Still, you can only buy something else within the range of options on the market. Ideally companies adjust their product lines based on customer demand. In reality it's mostly determined by other factors like supply chain, internal politics, competitor envy, random advice from consultants, need to meet quarterly growth goals, etc. For example, high-fructose corn syrup has become a major ingredient of many American fo…

For example, high-fructose corn syrup has become a major ingredient of many American food products within the past 20+ years. That didn't happen because of consumer demand, and consumers don't have an easy way to vote against it.

That's a pretty bad example, since that was in good part a result of the action of elected governments that have kept the price of sugar way above the market price, through tariffs, quotas and subsidies.

I suppose it's true that consumers don't have an easy way to vote against it, but it is a result of the US' "democratic" process.

On a related note, there was a recent Econtalk episode with Daniel Sumner, professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California, on that subject: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/02/daniel_sumner_o.htm...

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