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 TangDespite the hit song in its movie last year, everything is not awesome for toy-making giant, Lego, which faces a backlash for refusing to share its trademark plastic bricks. Contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, received a flurry of social media support after criticizing the Lego Group for declining to sell or supply him with a large quantity of bricks, needed for his upcoming exhibition on freedom of expression and political dissidents.
The "Andy Warhol / Ai Weiwei" exhibition is set to take place in Melbourne, Australia in December. Ai took to Instagram to vent his annoyance with Lego. "Lego is an influential cultural and political actor in the globalized economy with questionable values. Lego's refusal to sell its product to the artist is an act of censorship and discrimination," he said over the weekend on the photograph-sharing social media platform. Lego have since released a statement denying that it "censors, prohibits or bans the creative use" of its bricks, but states that it does "refrain—on a global level—from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of LEGO bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda." Lego-owning fans of Ai's work have vied to offer their toy bricks to the artist, which Ai says he will accept. He linked Lego's so-called censorship to the announcement of a new Legoland to be built in Shanghai. This month, Merlin Entertainments formally announced it would open a new Legoland in the Chinese city.
Ai is posting images of the crowd-sourced Lego supplies and says that collection points will be announced soon. Due to the "overwhelming public response", Ai says he will create a new work to "defend freedom of speech and 'political art,'" with details of the project to be announced soon. This isn't the first time Ai or other artists have used Lego bricks to spark conversation. In 2014, Ai used the bricks to make several mosaic portraits of political protesters to put on display at the former site of Alcatraz Prison off the coast of San Francisco. In addition, Polish artist, Zbigniew Libera, created a faux concentration camp made out of Lego bricks in the 1990s. He was heavily criticized by the media, and the Lego Group asked Libera to remove the creation from public view, after the group confirmed they were unaware of the piece's subject matter, according to the LA Times. Lego enthusiast, James Clinch, said that Lego was "not really censoring" Ai. "What they are doing is refusing to sell him bricks in a certain way," he told CNBC on Monday.
"There are many ways to buy LEGO from LEGO. One way for artists to obtain a large quantity or certain bricks either free or heavily subsidized is through a bulk order scheme LEGO offers certain groups/people. However, LEGO puts conditions on that scheme, because if they are footing, some or all of the bill, they don't really want anything that may detract from their values. Their values include commercial considerations, like any business would." He added: "There is nothing they can do, or indeed would do to prevent (Ai from) sourcing his own bricks to do it, or even buying them off LEGO in the normal way. They just won't pay or subsidize him to do it. So he can't say afterwards LEGO helped him." —By CNBC's Alexandra Gibbs, follow her on Twitter @AlexGibbsy.Items 1 to 60 of 3000 Items 1 to 60 of 3000Adjusted guidelines for bulk sales The LEGO Group has adjusted the guidelines for sales of LEGO® bricks in very large quantities. Previously, when asked to sell very large quantities of LEGO® bricks for projects, the LEGO Group has asked about the thematic purpose of the project.
This has been done, as the purpose of the LEGO Group is to inspire children through creative play, not to actively support or endorse specific agendas of individuals or organizations. 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. As of January 1st, the LEGO Group no longer asks for the thematic purpose when selling large quantities of LEGO bricks for projects. 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. Read the service message on the Customer Service site here.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.