Lego ends marketing deal with Shell in wake of Greenpeace campaign

Lego will not renew its marketing contract with Shell after coming under sustained pressure from Greenpeace to end a partnership that dates to the 1960s.

The environmental campaign group, protesting about the oil giant's plans to drill in the Arctic, had targeted the world's biggest toy maker with a YouTube video that attracted nearly six million views for its depiction of a pristine Arctic, built from 120kg of Lego, being covered in oil.

Initially Lego had resisted Greenpeace, arguing that it ought to deal directly with Shell.

However, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, the toy maker's chief executive, said Lego would honour its existing deal with Shell, which began in 2011, but "as things currently stand we will not renew the contract with Shell when the present contract ends".

Lego toy sets are currently distributed at petrol stations in 26 countries, in a deal valued at £68 million (HK$848 million). Lego had previously argued that the relationship meant Shell had a positive impact on the world by inspiring children with its toy sets.

Greenpeace activists also targeted Legoland in Windsor, west of London, by dressing as Lego figures. In July, protesters dressed as a polar bear targeted the Lego booth at Hong Kong's Ani-Com and Games exhibition. They said the toymaker's links to Shell were "hypocritical".