Maybe I'm just too cynical and tired of this shit, but it's just an ad. It isn't wholesome, in my opinion. It's just to make people share their product, and they had to pay almost nothing to do it. They didn't actually do anything for Attenborough. They just took advantage of his birthday to make an ad. Being really cynical, this was already a planned change, and they just picked an opportunity to maximize advertising opportunities.
I will not, and do not, disagree with anything you've said. But, I still maintain the sentiment of the act is wholesome. If it wasn't lego doing it and it was some mom and pop shop that did I don't think you'd be as cynical towards it. Or maybe you would. I don't know your life internet stranger 🤷
I'd probably still recognize it as partially an ad, but a mom and pop shop isn't spending tens or hundreds of millions on PR. There's a chance that they actually cared. There's basically no chance the leadership at Lego cared and made this happen. Potentially someone working in marketing did when they had this idea, but not the Lego company. It's too big for that.
I see where your nihilistic view (I think I'm using that word right) is coming from but man, I have too much of a downer mindset for everything else happening in the world. I'ma celebrate good shit, even from a major company like Lego. End of the day something like this won't make a difference in their profits and they could have just as easily not done a thing but they chose to do some good PR in response to joke posts talking about someone well known aging out of their toys. A win is a win in this shitty age we're living in. Even corpo's are capable of doing something nice for nice's sake once in a blue moon.
How is that relevant to this? No one was discussing that. Yes, that's also advertising, but for Iran. I'm not saying it's good, but at least it's trying to say something, unlike this.
Please don't try to take this away from me. There aren't many things to be hopefully about these day, and most everybody here recognizes this for what is is. But it's a far cry from the rape cover up, murder, and war going on daily around the world right now. We all need a little bit of lightheartedness right now.
I just struggle to see this as doing a good thing. Do you think he cares? Who is this helping? I just see it as a cheap PR stunt that takes advantage of an old famous person's birthday to get people to think of them instead of that other person.
If Lego inserted themselves into the convo, I would agree.
DA had posted the picture with Lego first, and they've responded with a simple gesture. PR stunt? Sure. Does it hurt anyone?
LEGO has technically lowered prices. They have started transitioning to sustainable plastic sources that are much more expensive to produce, but will not increase prices.
Yes, but now that they're built from better and more expensive materials without a price raise, they're less overpriced than they used to be.
Hell, name any other toy brand with anywhere near their popularity and brand recognition which HASN'T been overpriced forever AND raised prices significantly in recent years.
On top of that the general price increase over the last 25 years has come with considerable increases in set intricacy, piece count, and variety to both piece shapes and themes. I love to dunk on corporate price gouging but i really struggle to fault LEGO. I personally use “a person can comfortably buy LEGO as toys for their children” as my personal litmus for what a good wage should be; they’re pretty solid for maintaining a price/value ratio and Americans should all be making at least 150k/year by now even out in the boonies, just deduct it right out of the fortune 500s margins
my point, is I won't give companies a shred of recognition of a 'good job' until their crimes, lies and corruption are stopped or they are jailed. no more free passes, no more looking the other way, no more 'well it's kinda better now' .. no. hard stop, I'm sick of all these companies. they all deserve nonstop hatred, being called out for crimes and being treated like trash.
Profit can also be the value of the labour you put into something. If you buy wood, build a table, then sell it for more than the value of the wood, then that profit is the value of your labour.
This is treating it as if they're being nice. No. They just priced it at the maximum amount the market would allow. If they raised it further it'd cost them far too much in sales. Them increasing costs (assuming it actually does, and they don't get a tax write-off that counters it or something) has no relation to price.
They do make as pretty good product and dedicate much to r&d and on the community in general. I know premium brands which are more openly extortionate and care little about their customers.
What I mean to say is that quality is not solely in the product itself (even though they are very serious about quality in that aspect too).
I mean value wise there are cheaper plastic toy choices, but there's nothing close to what Lego does.
Normally, I'd be like "Boo sealioning", but yeah, I want to hear about some examples.
I've yet to see any other brand consistently compare. Every once in awhile you'll get a one off where its like "Yeah, good job" but there's so many reviews out there of copycat bricks that start with some variations of "Of course, the quality doesn't compare to Lego".
And there's a noticeable drop in quality. Not to the point that I'd say they aren't worth getting, just noticeable. I'd say they are something like 50% the price for 75% the quality.
And to be more specific, I'm talking about a breadth of quality issues, from piece durability, to how consistent the fit is, to how easy the combination steps are structurally (as in some steps from the knockoffs require figuring out where you need to hold the parts for support or where to apply force to avoid collapsing another part of it as you build it up).
Lego has it down to a science and there's more to it than just the physical shape (which itself is easier said than done and requires a certain level of precision).
Partly. He's said in the past that excessive consumerism is a big part of the environmental issues. He's also commented on capitalism in the same light.
41 Comments
Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works · 149 pts · 124d
Aight, this is pretty wholesome
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 123d
Maybe I'm just too cynical and tired of this shit, but it's just an ad. It isn't wholesome, in my opinion. It's just to make people share their product, and they had to pay almost nothing to do it. They didn't actually do anything for Attenborough. They just took advantage of his birthday to make an ad. Being really cynical, this was already a planned change, and they just picked an opportunity to maximize advertising opportunities.
Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 123d
I will not, and do not, disagree with anything you've said. But, I still maintain the sentiment of the act is wholesome. If it wasn't lego doing it and it was some mom and pop shop that did I don't think you'd be as cynical towards it. Or maybe you would. I don't know your life internet stranger 🤷
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 123d
I'd probably still recognize it as partially an ad, but a mom and pop shop isn't spending tens or hundreds of millions on PR. There's a chance that they actually cared. There's basically no chance the leadership at Lego cared and made this happen. Potentially someone working in marketing did when they had this idea, but not the Lego company. It's too big for that.
Dzheyk@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 120d
I see where your nihilistic view (I think I'm using that word right) is coming from but man, I have too much of a downer mindset for everything else happening in the world. I'ma celebrate good shit, even from a major company like Lego. End of the day something like this won't make a difference in their profits and they could have just as easily not done a thing but they chose to do some good PR in response to joke posts talking about someone well known aging out of their toys. A win is a win in this shitty age we're living in. Even corpo's are capable of doing something nice for nice's sake once in a blue moon.
Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 123d
I feel iran is making more watched lego content than anyone else, I don't see the complaints about that
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 123d
How is that relevant to this? No one was discussing that. Yes, that's also advertising, but for Iran. I'm not saying it's good, but at least it's trying to say something, unlike this.
Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 123d
🙄
NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 123d
Please don't try to take this away from me. There aren't many things to be hopefully about these day, and most everybody here recognizes this for what is is. But it's a far cry from the rape cover up, murder, and war going on daily around the world right now. We all need a little bit of lightheartedness right now.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
Fair enough. It is at least more fun than most of the other stuff we see.
filcuk@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
A little too cynical maybe.
Doing a good thing for your own benefit doesn't change the deed. Everyone does it, we aren't selfless creatures by nature.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 122d
I just struggle to see this as doing a good thing. Do you think he cares? Who is this helping? I just see it as a cheap PR stunt that takes advantage of an old famous person's birthday to get people to think of them instead of that other person.
filcuk@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
If Lego inserted themselves into the convo, I would agree.
DA had posted the picture with Lego first, and they've responded with a simple gesture. PR stunt? Sure. Does it hurt anyone?
shweddy@lemmy.world · 60 pts · 124d
Aything to please consumers but lower their prices
jol@discuss.tchncs.de · 89 pts · 124d
LEGO has technically lowered prices. They have started transitioning to sustainable plastic sources that are much more expensive to produce, but will not increase prices.
Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca · 39 pts · 124d
just means they were overpriced to begin with.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 55 pts · 124d
Yes, but now that they're built from better and more expensive materials without a price raise, they're less overpriced than they used to be.
Hell, name any other toy brand with anywhere near their popularity and brand recognition which HASN'T been overpriced forever AND raised prices significantly in recent years.
HoopyFrood@lemmy.zip · 32 pts · 124d
On top of that the general price increase over the last 25 years has come with considerable increases in set intricacy, piece count, and variety to both piece shapes and themes. I love to dunk on corporate price gouging but i really struggle to fault LEGO. I personally use “a person can comfortably buy LEGO as toys for their children” as my personal litmus for what a good wage should be; they’re pretty solid for maintaining a price/value ratio and Americans should all be making at least 150k/year by now even out in the boonies, just deduct it right out of the fortune 500s margins
Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca · -2 pts · 124d
my point, is I won't give companies a shred of recognition of a 'good job' until their crimes, lies and corruption are stopped or they are jailed. no more free passes, no more looking the other way, no more 'well it's kinda better now' .. no. hard stop, I'm sick of all these companies. they all deserve nonstop hatred, being called out for crimes and being treated like trash.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk · 17 pts · 124d
What crimes have LEGO committed?
queermunist@lemmy.ml · -6 pts · 124d
Instead of paying workers what they are worth, they are paid a market wage that is always less than the value they produce.
That's where profit comes from. All profit is theft.
howrar@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 124d
Profit can also be the value of the labour you put into something. If you buy wood, build a table, then sell it for more than the value of the wood, then that profit is the value of your labour.
ultimate_worrier@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 124d
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 123d
Lego sells a physical toy in 2026, not a game, and is still running.
They are not stupid. They will not rock this boat with a price increase.
Venat0r@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 124d
or they get to write off some tax as a result of switching to the sustainable plastic, so it doesn't actually cost them anything to switch.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 123d
This is treating it as if they're being nice. No. They just priced it at the maximum amount the market would allow. If they raised it further it'd cost them far too much in sales. Them increasing costs (assuming it actually does, and they don't get a tax write-off that counters it or something) has no relation to price.
GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 124d
Akasazh@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 123d
They do make as pretty good product and dedicate much to r&d and on the community in general. I know premium brands which are more openly extortionate and care little about their customers.
What I mean to say is that quality is not solely in the product itself (even though they are very serious about quality in that aspect too).
I mean value wise there are cheaper plastic toy choices, but there's nothing close to what Lego does.
polysexualstick@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 123d
There's like half a dozen or so other high-quality clamp building block producers where you can get a similar product for a better price
oxideseven@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 123d
Examples?
BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 123d
Normally, I'd be like "Boo sealioning", but yeah, I want to hear about some examples.
I've yet to see any other brand consistently compare. Every once in awhile you'll get a one off where its like "Yeah, good job" but there's so many reviews out there of copycat bricks that start with some variations of "Of course, the quality doesn't compare to Lego".
Akasazh@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 123d
Do they carry a comparable range of building components?
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 123d
And there's a noticeable drop in quality. Not to the point that I'd say they aren't worth getting, just noticeable. I'd say they are something like 50% the price for 75% the quality.
And to be more specific, I'm talking about a breadth of quality issues, from piece durability, to how consistent the fit is, to how easy the combination steps are structurally (as in some steps from the knockoffs require figuring out where you need to hold the parts for support or where to apply force to avoid collapsing another part of it as you build it up).
Lego has it down to a science and there's more to it than just the physical shape (which itself is easier said than done and requires a certain level of precision).
DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 123d
Lepin has revitalized ny love of legos...I bought a ship I always wanted for $65 on aliexpress...just gotta do your research instead of blind buys
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 122d
Combining compatible systems with LEGO may actually be a legitimate use of “legos” as a plural. I must ponder this further.
Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 123d
Meanwhile, Dick Van Dyke is just happy that he can play with Lego again.
TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 124d
His greatest accomplishment
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk · 7 pts · 123d
Shutting down production would probably be a better "we did this for you"
Psythik@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
Why? Because microplastics?
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 122d
Partly. He's said in the past that excessive consumerism is a big part of the environmental issues. He's also commented on capitalism in the same light.
ponypuncher@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 123d
It was better when they were called FredBlox