Suddenly, the “Lego Movie” feels like the prologue to a horrible tragedy.
Greenpeace on Tuesday released a new video that parodied the massive hit Warner Bros. film, the organization’s latest attack on the toy brick company for its $116 million deal with Shell Oil. It is quite a sight to behold.
Also read: Lego’s $116 Million Deal With Shell Oil Draws Protests, Ironic Lego Art (Photos)
Set in a small town in the antarctic, where “Lego Movie” main characters live side-by-side with Santa Claus and polar bears, the video features a slow, piano ballad version of the earworm “Everything is Awesome”… and then drowns all of the town’s formerly happy inhabitants.
This is certainly a major escalation in Greenpeace’s war against Shell, which is paying to have its name and logo emblazoned on a special set of Lego bricks that are being sold around the world at the company’s gas stations. Estimates put sales at 16 million Shell-branded sets sold in 26 countries, a major success that Greenpeace says is a violation of the trust that kids and parents put in the toy company.
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“Climate change is an incredible threat facing all children around the world, but Shell is trying to hijack the magic of Lego to hide its role,” a spokesperson for Greenpeace said last week. “It is using Lego to clean up its image and divert attention from its dangerous plans to raid the pristine Arctic for oil. And it’s exploiting kids’ love of their toys to build lifelong loyalty it doesn’t deserve. It’s time for Lego to finally pull the plug on this deal.”
Lego responded by saying that it was “saddened when the Lego brand is used as a tool in any dispute.”