LEGO Paused Ads On Some Products With Police & White House Amid Protests

The company also said it will be donating $4 million to organizations that teach children about racial equality.

Getty Images/Lego logo seen in Shanghai
Getty Images/Lego logo seen in Shanghai

Toy company LEGO paused advertising on Tuesday for some of its building sets and products that included police and the White House, amid nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers.

Marketing company Rakuten Linkshare, on behalf of the LEGO Group, sent an email June 2 to several online companies that sell LEGO sets, requesting that they remove a number of products and their marketing, according to trade website, The Toy Book. More than 30 products were reportedly listed in the email, including LEGO City Police Station, Fire Station, Police Dog Unit, Patrol Car, Fire Plane, Mobile Command Center, and Police Highway Arrest sets. The White House set was also included in the removal list.

LEGO has clarified that it had only paused digital advertising of some products in the U.S. in light of the nationwide protests. The move has drawn criticism from some conservative pundits, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

“We’ve seen incorrect reports saying we’ve removed some LEGO sets from sale,” the company stated on Twitter Thursday. “To be clear, that is not the case and reports otherwise are false. Our intention was to temporarily pause digital advertising in response to events in the US. We hope this clears things up.” 

CNBC also reported that a LEGO spokesperson sent a statement clarifying that the company didn’t stop selling any sets. 

“The misunderstanding is the result of an email that was sent on our behalf to members of our affiliate marketing programme,” the spokesperson said. “The intent of the email was to ask that they pause promoting and marketing a selection of Lego products on their sites. We paused all marketing across our own social channels earlier this week in response to the tragic events in the U.S.”

On Wednesday, the company also posted that it will be donating $4 million to organizations that teach children about racial equality.

Despite the misunderstanding earlier in the week, many also praised the company for doing what it could to honor the protests.

This isn’t the first time LEGO has used its platform in response to prominent issues in the world. In early April, the company announced that it would be making protective face visors for health care workers treating coronavirus patients.