Friends or Foes: LEGO and Play for Girls Part 3: It's All About Choice

This is the third part in a three part series of articles written to explore the current controversy brewing over the LEGO Friends line launched this year by The Lego Group.

So far in this examination of the LEGO Friends line, we have looked at the sets on their own, and also the history of how LEGO came to develop the line and the research behind the line.  In this final segment, we will look at LEGO's decisions surrounding marketing to girls and

Friends or Foes: LEGO and Play for Girls Part 2: LEGO's Strategic Shifts

This is the second part in a three part series of articles written to explore the current controversy brewing over the LEGO Friends line launched this year by The Lego Group.


Yesterday we looked at the basics of the LEGO Friends line - what the sets looked like, and how they stood on their own merits.

Today, we are going to look at the research, the marketing, and communications side of the story.

Friends or Foes: LEGO and Play for Girls Part 1: The Basics

This is the first in a three part series of articles written to explore the current controversy brewing over the LEGO Friends line launched this year by The Lego Group.

There's a LEGO war of bricks brewing - and this time, it's not the Pirates versus the Imperial Armada, Blacktron versus M-Tron, nor is it the Lion Knights versus the Dragon Knights.

This time the stakes are much higher, and the battleground is the play space of young girls and the new LEGO Friends line.  It is a topic I have been asked about frequently since the line was announced, as people, knowing my interest in LEGO, have approached me asking my opinion of 'why would LEGO do this?'

I have relented from writing about it because it is such a loaded subject.  There are so many facets to consider, and so many myths to untangle.  Further, I am somewhat removed from the discussion, in as much as I am not directly 'repressed' by the accusations, nor  do not work for LEGO, so I can not speak for LEGO, and I can not pretend that I know all of LEGO's reasons for developing this line.  But there has been much discussion and debate regarding this subject over the last month, so join me, if you are interested, in unpacking this dilemma.