Chalk up another win for the environmental attack squad. This time the attack was on the storied Danish toymaker LEGO AS.
Was LEGO pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Was it dumping toxic waste in the water?
No, none of the above. Since the 1960s LEGO has made play sets for children with the Shell Oil logo, putting it on toy tanker trucks and filling stations.
Recognizing this clear threat to society, Greenpeace turned the thumbscrews and LEGO cried “uncle.” It will not renew its co-promotion deal with Royal Dutch Shell when the current one expires.
In fairness to Greenpeace, its attack on LEGO was pretty soft-sell: it released an online video and posted a petition people could sign.
LEGO put out a press release claiming, “We don’t agree with the tactics used by Greenpeace that may have created the misunderstanding among our stakeholders about the way we operate.”
Well, LEGO’s disagreement apparently wasn’t so strong that it decided to stand up to Greenpeace and fight the misleading attack.
LEGO’s surrender emboldens groups like Greenpeace to go after even more targets. It’s become one of the left’s favorite and most successful tactics. Demonize a company or organization, picket its offices or meetings, and accuse it of destroying the environment—or aiding and abetting those who do.
What the left knows is that most corporate CEOs and boards aren’t cold-hearted, tough-minded capitalists who will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals—that’s only the caricature. And it’s actually a better description of the left—except for the “capitalist” part.
Most corporate CEOs and boards are risk-averse and shudder at the thought of some group saying bad things about them—even if those things are manifestly untrue. And so they tell their people to “make this problem go away,” which usually means caving to the group’s demands.
The irony is that an energy company like Shell, and even a toy company like LEGO, creates well-paying jobs and economic growth. Greenpeace just creates harassment. And yet the media spin is that it’s Greenpeace that’s helping society while the companies hurt it.
An economy couldn’t survive without the Shells and LEGOs of the world; it might actually improve without the Greenpeaces.