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Until 2014 Shell had enjoyed a 50-year-long brand partnership with LEGO. But it came to an abrupt and high profile end after Greenpeace’s “Everything is Not Awesome” campaign, which targeted the long-standing partnership due to Shell’s Arctic drilling activities. Initially reluctant to end the deal,
LEGO faced mounting public pressure after Greenpeace released a viral, emotionally powerful video that used LEGO imagery to highlight environmental damage. The backlash ultimately led LEGO to announce it would not renew the arrangement.
In this episode of ‘What Just Happened?’, hosts Kate Hartley and Tamara Littleton are joined by PR consultant and brand activism expert Sara Collinge to unpack why the Greenpeace campaign was so effective.
They discuss Greenpeace’s ability to creatively invert LEGO’s own brand values and slogans, and to strategically involve children and social media to drive emotional engagement. And they look at how LEGO’s initial corporate response lacked humility and failed to acknowledge responsibility.
The discussion expands into how brands can avoid becoming targets of activism, emphasising the need for organisations to align their internal actions with their public values, examine historical partnerships, and be honest about where risks lie.
They argue that authentic brand activism must involve sacrifice, not just PR, and urges companies to do the hard work of auditing their values, supply chains, and communications before crisis hits. Transparency, accountability and timely action are key to staying on the right side of public opinion.
A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.
