Gender Bias and Diversity:

Within recent years, Lego has taken steps to become more inclusive and diverse within its brand, though this was not always the case. Lego has received criticism in regard to gender bias and lack of inclusivity within its sets and minifigures. One example is this side-by-side photo of two LEGO advertisements. The one on the left illustrates male minifigures working on a construction site with heavy machinery. The one on the right shows female minifigures gathering with one another to decorate a Christmas tree. These two illustrations coincide with ongoing gender stereotypes, which may be harmful. These two sets reinforce the stereotype that men go out and work to provide for their families, while women stay inside and tend to the home. Aside from these differences, there is a clear distinction between the two color palettes. This distinction was intentional. Lego conducted studies that resulted in boys gravitating towards brighter, more striking colors, while girls tended to gravitate towards a lighter, more pastel color palettes. This reinforces gendered design choices. The company received lots of criticism for their boys versus girls sets over the years and have recently shifted to sets that lie on a more gender-neutral scale. 

This commercial below is one created by Lego in 2014. This campaign was created to celebrate Lego’s female demographic, as they had received lots of backlash from their previous bias towards males. This advertisement was created in hopes of encouraging young girls to remain creative and continue to use their imagination when using Lego bricks.

LGBT+ Inclusivity:

This advertisement above is apart of Lego’s movement towards inclusivity. Though Lego has faced backlash in the past, throughout the years, Lego has taken strides to ensure greater diversity within its products. One of their most notable inclusivity campaigns was the launch of their “A-Z Campaign” which is shown above. This campaign is described as “The A-Z of Awesome, a colorful alphabet of identities built from LEGO® bricks, created by our incredible LGBTQIA+ fans!” This campaign was designed to represent all Lego users. This campaign emphasized and promoted free expression through the use of Lego bricks. This message is pivotal for the brand, as they previously categorized products through stereotypes, which is not inclusive to their entire audience. By broadening their products and removing categories, they are able to appeal to a greater audience, a message the company seemed to stand by at their origin.

Most of this campaign was through photos and advertisements, but Lego did release a couple videos about it if you are interested. Here is one link: https://youtu.be/837WdHmZw3E