Lego changes policy after Ai Weiwei debacle

Mr Ai ended up using bricks donated to him by the public for his exhibition in Australia.

At the time, Lego said its policy was to decline such requests if it believed the bricks would be used to make a political statement. Instead, customers showing the works in public will have to include a disclosure, stating that Lego doesn’t support or endorse the project being created.

Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.

After the announcement, the artist told the BBC about what he thought about the change.

“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”, the statement continued. In an email, spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek wrote: “We always have and continue to do – this is at the heart of what Lego play is all about….”

‘We hope the new guidelines will make it more clear what we stand for’.

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei published photos of himself with Lego hanging off his moustache and beard on Wednesday, celebrating the toymaker’s decision to back down on rules that blocked his bulk order of bricks.

Lego said back then that it has a policy for many years of not filling any large orders or of donating Lego if the company was aware what it would part of something with a political agenda.

He said: ‘Lego is a language which everybody can appreciate and should be able to use it according to their will, and that’s what all freedom of expression is about’.

Ai, known for his criticism of China’s rights record, had accused the Danish toymaker of censorship and set up collection points for people to send him bricks.

China has been a key driver of Lego’s growth in recent years, and the company opened an office in Shanghai last year in addition to its manufacturing operations in the country.