Feminists freak out over LEGO Friends: ABC News was duped Riley was coached, video used in "No Pink" campaign

This blog is in response to a petition & spam campaign of a few feminists

Some radical feminist groups realized they can advance their own agenda by launching a "No pink aisle, bring back beautiful" social media campaign by claiming The LEGO Group offers no "gender equity" in the new theme "Friends" and its marketing. They created an online petition, then proceeded encouraging their followers to SPAM the LEGO Facebook page with one of TLG's own ads. Laced with false dramatic information, they convinced the petition site to include their "cause" in its membership mailing notice.
This blog sheds light on their omissions, skewed facts & images.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

ABC News was duped Riley was coached, video used in "No Pink" campaign

Riley - the girl in the video about pink & blue - whose video was promoted and then offered up to the "No Pink aisles" campaigners for use in their "social-media campaign" against The LEGO Group when her parents heard about the new Friends theme.
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Here's the proof. Thanks to The Huffington Post. (above screencap is link to article)
Transcribe of what it says in the screencap:
"Sarah Maida, Riley's mom, told The Huffington Post that this video was actually shot in May of 2011. She and her husband Dennis had shared it with a few friends, who responded positively to Riley's message. But, after Sarah heard about LEGO Friends -- shapely mini-figures that lock into pink, purple and pastel green settings, such as a dream house, a splash pool and a beauty shop -- she posted the video on Facebook fan pages for Princess Free Zone and Pigtail Pals, companies that sell only gender-neutral products and stand up for girl's rights. (Princess Free's tagline is "Come as you are," and they sell apparel featuring designs like a dinosaur on a scooter or a skateboarding octopus.)"

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Then came the start of the SPAM campaign on the LEGO facebook page. Some feminist women's rights groups and "girl empowerment" product sellers networked together to SPAM and spread false information about the Friends theme and TLG's research.

Even in promoting the video, they admit some people think the rant is staged. As written by Jennifer Shewmaker, who also believes girls with ADHD aren't "normal" and used that premise in her education.

    This is a screencap of PBG telling their networking groups to tell LEGO not to base a new theme on what four years of research with real girls garnered -- but to give girls what is "good for them" (in their opinion) instead.

    Hello? The LEGO Group isn't in the business of, say, offering school lunches, which you pay for with your tax dollars and probably would want to make sure the meals aren't just what some kids want -- yet what is good for them instead.

    The LEGO Group is a privately-help corporation, which has gone beyond what most toy companies do in regard to research & development of its products.

    So, there we have PBG (powered by girls), SPARKsummit, Pigtail Pals, New Moon Girls, and Hardy Girls, Princess Free Zone, Jennifer Shewmaker, and a few more, all hatching their "social media campaign" plan. "No pink aisles, bring back beautiful" is what they spammed.

    What should have been a joyful holiday season was muddled up by a few feminists with an agenda. They saw an opportunity upon a chance dialogue with a wonderful company called LEGO -- they ran with it -- they petitioned -- they spammed -- they posted & re-posted, and now we know they used an apparently staged video of a little girl's rant.

    They tweeted and sent the video link back & forth in their networks -- somehow it got the attention of ABC News. Oh, Diane, how you were duped.

   Update: Riley's mom, Sarah, is so confused about LEGO Friends that she provides false statements saying they aren't compatible with 'other LEGO' when everyone who owns LEGO knows they are 100% compatible with any other LEGO bricks, and the mini-dolls have exchangeable hair with mini-figs, and can hold any utensil a mini-fig can. She also fails to comprehend that girls made up only 9% of TLG's customers in 2011 -- and now that Friends is available that number has increased to 28% -- that isn't about making people buy more, it's about many parents buying LEGO bricks for the very first time!!!

Notice Riley's pic as her profile pic -- yeah Batman & LEGO Friends are not mutually exclusive either -- loads of girls play with both. Hey, is that a pink cabinet in your house? Wow.
If The LEGO Group only cared for profits as Riley's mom suggests, then why do they sponsor Google's Science Fair? Sarah hasn't a clue -- too busy using her kid to promote her own anger.

LINKs:
Little Girl Riley Angry Over 'Pink Stuff' Toys | Video - ABC News

PBG

Dr. Jennifer Shewmaker's Operation Transformation

New Moon Girls

SPARK a Movement

Pigtail Pals - Redefine Girly

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This blog isn't the only, or first, online posting of how Riley appears rehearsed:

http://www.queerty.com/watch-fierce-toddler-calls-out-gender-stereotypes-in-riley-on-marketing-20111226/

and

http://margotmagowan.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/is-riley-brainwashed-by-her-dad/

1 comment:

AnonymousDecember 28, 2011 at 9:20 AM
That`s feminism for ya. Ah well, the less attention these feminazi`s get, the better. And great blog, by the way.
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FACTS & Myths

FACT: Friends sets contain 'loose' bricks which must be connected together to build the model on the box-art (instructions included) or any other creation a girl can imagine with those bricks. The models seen in images DO NOT come out of the box pre-assembled.

Myth: LEGO Friends sets come pre-fabricated = a myth!

FACT: Pink bricks have been around for about a decade.

Myth: LEGO Friends set bricks are mostly pink = a myth!
(Only about 10% of the bricks found in each set box are of the color pink; the rest are comprised of Azure Blue {a LEGO Friends unique color}, White, Tan, Lime Green, Medium Lavender, Dark Lavender, Magenta {dark bright pink}, Red, Yellow-Green, Black, Brown, Light Aqua {new color to LEGO, due to Friends}, Orange, Yellow, Grey, Light Pink, Bright Orange, Bright Pink, and several shades of Green.)

FACT: Girls who where not already building & playing with LEGO bricks took part in the 4-year anthropological research study across the globe. They are the girls for whom the Friends Mini-Dolls were developed; those girls wanted a more realistic "avatar" to represent them. They were not interested in the classic yellow minifigure.

Myth: If only TLG made more girls as minifigures then more girls would be building with LEGO bricks and therefore no need for the Friends line = a myth!

FACT: In 2011 girls were only 9% of The LEGO Group's customers; after Friends release and by 2013 girls comprise 28% of the toy company's customers. Although many girls who built with LEGO bricks prior to Friends enjoyed other lines, such as Creator, Harry Potter, Architecture, the overall number of girls building was less than boys. Friends serves as a bridge by appealing to some girls to engage them with construction toy building -- then hopefully follow interests into additional themes, such as Modular, Monster Fighters, NinjaGO, Architecture, Chima, CITY and more ...

Myth: Girls have been segregated withing the LEGO building experience = a myth!

FACT: The LEGO Group had severe profit loss in 2003; then after releasing licensed tie-in (such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter) sets, their profits rose.

Myth: If TLG reverts to gender-less buckets of red, blue & green bricks, then everything will be just fine = a myth!
~This is a sentimental notion which does not take into account the very rapid growth of technology and competition for kids' attention in engaged play.

About Paradisa:

The LEGO Paradisa System for girls was introduced in 1992. These sets included parts for making buildings with pink and white accents. Many of these sets had either beach or riding themes. Therre were also a pair of basic sets, called “Freestyle” in 1995 that were in a box or a pink suitcase. These were very similar to the actually produced Paradisa System sets, except these were not model sets, but mainly spare parts basic sets.

There were a number of unique baseplates produced for the Paradisa line, many having beach and water features, and very light green grassy areas. There were also several parts not found in other systems in pink or dark pink. So some parts in these sets are somewhat rare.

The Paradisa System of sets were retired circa 1998, and other LEGO systems, such as the Scala System (dollhouse type sets) and Belville.

Paradisa Sets were sold in continental Europe, Britain, Australia, USA and Canada.

LEGO Homemaker sets Story

This was the beginning of the Homemaker series of sets, which were produced from 1971 until 1982. The early Homemaker sets from 1971-73 predated the first LEGO people, which were first introduced in 1974. Even after 1974 many of the smaller sets still did not have LEGO people included in the sets.

The first LEGO people were not the small minifigs that we know of today, but were large yellow 2x2x2 round heads and neck attached to a 2x2 brick. There were bendable arms that attached to the sides of the 2x2 bricks. At the end of each arm was a round hand with a hollow stud on top. This allowed the people to hold LEGO accessories. The remainder of the big head peoples’ body was made up of regular and sloped LEGO bricks. There were also LEGO hair pieces (male and female) as well as LEGO hats (male and female). The yellow heads had several different expressions painted on them. Some looked young with freckles; others looked old with glasses painted on. And there were several different hair colors and hair styles for the large heads. The hats varied in color and styles. There was even one American Indian set that had the heads made of red LEGO. But all other sets had yellow heads.

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This blog is in response to a petition & spam campaign of a few feminists

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

ABC News was duped Riley was coached, video used in "No Pink" campaign

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