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Lego defends Sun promotion after pressure from anti-Page Three campaign

By Andrew Pugh

Lego has defended its commercial relationship with The Sun after supporters of an anti-Page Three campaign stepped up its pressure on the company.

On Saturday the News International title ran a new Lego promotion that prompted the No More Page Three campaign to urge supporters to lobby the toy maker.

The campaign said it was “of the opinion that soft porn and free children’s toys isn’t a perfect partnership”.

A petition asking Lego to drop all commercial partnerships with the paper until its drops Page Three has been signed 6,156 times and the company was targeted with messages on Twitter from supporters of the campaign.

In response Lego issued a statement last night saying it would “listen very carefully to the opinions and input that people share” when it next reviews its promotional activities.

The statement in full said:

In order to catch the attention of parents who may not be as well associated with our products, we promote LEGO products in a vast variety of media, for example TV commercials, printed ads, online promotions etc.

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One of the media we have chosen to address parents is The Sun as it’s one of the most popular British newspapers with a daily readership of more than 6 million of which 47% are women.

We know that activities like these are good opportunities for families to get acquainted with our product. Through this promotion we will be able to provide millions of LEGO play experiences to children nationwide through their parents.

We listen very carefully to the opinions and input that people share. We will continue to do so as we develop our communication in the future.

We will therefore take your thoughts and opinions into consideration when reviewing our promotional activities.

Earlier this month News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch hinted that he was considering scrapping topless pictures on Page Three.

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