Lego has said it is reversing its policy on bulk purchases and will no longer ask customers what they want to use the bricks for.The U-turn follows a recent controversy involving Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.In October last year, Ai accused Lego of censorship when it refused to sell its bricks directly to him.The company said its policy was to reject requests if it believed the bricks would be used to make a political statement.Ai is known for his criticism of the Chinese government as well as for being one of the world's leading contemporary artists. He wanted the bricks for an artwork on political dissidents. The artist ended up using "fake" bricks donated to him by the public for an exhibition in Melbourne, Australia.Ai appeared to react to Lego's decision on Wednesday by posting a picture on Instagram of a young boy sticking bricks onto his face, accompanied by a grinning emoji caption. When Lego first refused to sell a bulk order of plastic bricks to Ai Weiwei in September, he's thought to have kept the news to himself.
But a few weeks later, the announcement that a new Legoland theme park would open in Shanghai led the artist to reveal Lego's decision to stay away from projects that had a "political agenda". It was a surprising decision by Lego. After all, Ai Weiwei had used Lego before. He created a series of portraits of political dissidents that appeared at an exhibition in Alcatraz prison in 2014. Back in October, the artist tied Lego's financial interests in China with its decision to refuse his order. His accusation has some merit: KIRKBI, the private Danish company that owns the Lego brand also owns a significant amount of shares in Merlin Entertainment, the British company that operates Legolands around the world.China is Lego's fastest growing market and the company wouldn't want to irritate Beijing. However, as Lego might attest, few would want to battle the feisty Ai Weiwei. In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, Lego said it used to ask customers ordering bulk purchases for the "thematic purpose" of their project, as it did not want to "actively support or endorse specific agendas"."
However, those guidelines could result in misunderstandings or be perceived as inconsistent, and the Lego Group has therefore adjusted the guidelines for sales of Lego bricks in very large quantities," it said.As of 1 January the company will instead ask that customers make clear the group does not support or endorse their projects, if exhibited in public.Lego's earlier decision to refuse Ai's request angered the artist, who accused the company of censorship and discrimination, and of attempting to define political art.The artist told the BBC he welcomed Lego's change of heart."I think Lego made a good move, I think this would be a small victory for freedom of speech." The artist also linked Lego's stance with business interests in China.The controversy sparked a public backlash resulting in supporters around the world offering to donate toy bricks.Ai set up "Lego collection points" in different cities, and ended up making a new series of artworks based on the incident as a commentary on freedom of speech and political art.
Correction: This article was changed to make it clear that Ai Weiwei's Melbourne exhibition used non-Lego bricks.Lego has performed a U-turn on its bulk orders policy after it was engulfed in controversy when it refused an order from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Mr Ai accused the company of “an act of censorship and discrimination” when it refused to sell him a bulk order last October. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images The Danish toymaker said its policy was to block requests that it believed would be used for political purposes. The decision sparked a wave of online criticism and led to Mr Ai setting up Lego ‘collection points’ across the world. Many responded to his call, including children, who donated their bricks for an installation which is currently on show at The National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. Lego said in a statement on its website that its guidelines “could result in misunderstandings or be perceived as inconsistent” and that it had “adjusted” them.
From January 1st, the company will no longer ask for the “thematic purpose” of the bricks, it added. “Instead, the customers will be asked to make it clear - if they intend to display their Lego creations in public - that the Lego Group does not support or endorse the specific projects,” it said. Mr Ai welcomed the decision, tweeting "nice move" on his official account with the hashtag "freedomofexpression". He is China’s most famous contemporary artist abroad, but his work is heavily censored at home where he is a constant thorn of the side the authorities because of criticism of Communist leaders. Ai was detained for 81 days in 2011 as part of a nationwide crackdown on dissent. Authorities continued to hold his passport until last summer. The bearded artist has previously used bricks in his work, including as part of an exhibition at the former prison island of Alcatraz in the United States which paid tribute to Nelson Mandela and Edward Snowden. Additional reporting by Ailin Tang
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s installation “Trace” on Alcatraz Island near San Francisco, California, September 24, 2014. The exhibition included portraits of political prisoners made of Lego. Can a company be truly “apolitical” in China? The backlash against Danish toy company Lego A/S has brought this question again to the fore. Lego is fielding a deluge of online criticism after Chinese political activist and artist Ai Weiwei said over the weekend that the company turned down his request for a bulk order of the building blocks for a new art installation. The maker of the iconic toy blocks says its stance has long been to steer clear of political projects. But the response hardly assuaged many angry customers in Western countries. Twitter posters argued that refusing to sell to Mr. Ai was itself a political statement in support of censorship, and some threatened to stop buying Legos. “If you…refuse to sell bricks to @aiww, then you ARE using Lego bricks for political purposes, @LEGO_Group,” wrote one Twitter poster, Orion Kidder, whose profile said he was an English professor in Vancouver.
A small minority of the Twitterverse defended the company, saying that Lego had no responsibility to support Mr. Ai’s project by giving him a bulk purchase rate. “It’s a private company. They said he’s free to use Lego, he’d just have to buy it from shops,” wrote one user with the username Matthew Piggwick. Mr. Ai said in an Instagram post on Saturday that Lego had refused his request in September. He quoted the company as saying it “cannot approve the use of Legos for political works.” The Chinese artist plans to use Legos for an installation in Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria. Mr. Ai also noted that the refusal came weeks before the Oct. 21 announcement that a new Legoland will be constructed in Shanghai. A Lego spokesman said the Legoland parks were sold a decade ago to Merlin Entertainments. However, it appears the two still have common financial interests: Lego Group’s majority shareholder KIRKBI A/S also owns a “significant” share of Merlin, according to KIRKBI’s website.
Ai Weiwei’s installation “Trace” at Alcatraz Island included portraits of political prisoners made of Lego. While it isn’t immediately clear what Lego artwork Mr. Ai is planning, his previous use of Legos might have given the company pause. Last year on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, Mr. Ai created a massive Lego carpet featuring portraits of prisoners of conscience from China and other countries. Much of Mr. Ai’s work has been de facto banned in his home country due to his outspoken criticism of China’s government. However, he has recently eased his rhetoric and was allowed to hold his first solo exhibit in China over the summer. A Lego spokesman said in an emailed statement that the company had a blanket policy against endorsement of political projects. “Any individual person can naturally purchase or get access to LEGO bricks in other ways to create their LEGO projects if they desire to do so, but as a company, we choose to refrain from engaging in these activities – through for example bulk purchase,” the company said.
Mr. Ai’s team didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesday, but his Twitter account @aiww posted on Sunday in English (sic), “Lego is giving us the definition of what is ‘political’, and all the big corporations are telling us what to love or hate. Asked by China Real Time about Lego’s refusal to sell bricks in bulk to Mr. Ai, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday that she has seen news reports on the matter but declined to offer comment as “this isn’t a diplomatic issue.” It isn’t the first time Lego has declined to support a project it has deemed as veering into political territory. Earlier this year, it nixed a proposal to make a custom Lego set of U.S. female Supreme Court justices, disqualifying the idea from a vote on its crowdsourcing platform on the grounds that it was political. Lego’s decision also falls in line with that of many international companies who claim apoliticism. But such a stance has sometimes resulted in a backlash from Western consumers when it comes to countries such as China that suppress activism and free speech.