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For many of us, the days of playing make-believe are long gone. That’s not the case for the creative team at Lego, who began using their imaginations over a year ago to create the brand’s holiday campaign, which brings Lego’s characters (known as “minifigures”) to life in unexpected and vibrant ways.
We spoke with Lucas Reynoso Vizcaino, brand global creative lead at The Lego Group, about the creative inspiration and strategies behind the spot.
Bringing imagination to life: Of the more than 500 Lego sets, the spot incorporated around 20, some of which overlap with one another (e.g., the Ferris wheel is part of both Lego Creator and Lego City sets). Vizcaino told us the team showcased items only serious fans might recognize, like the guitar from its limited-edition Mariachi collection.
Connecting with children and their parents: “We know that kids love the brand, and parents, too, but we want to be able to show parents what is inside the brilliant minds of the kids,” Vizcaino said. Merging real-life backdrops with fantastical CGI elements was the way they bridged that gap.
Don’t stop (us) now: One way to appeal to multiple generations at once? Use a Queen song with interpolated lyrics about killer bees. The whole song is a rendition of the 1979 original, which was always the brand’s no. 1 choice to accompany the ad, according to Vizcaino. “We really thought that it was a moment to bring some optimism and contagious positivity of ‘nothing can stop us,’” explained Vizcaino, after another year of Covid. Some of the new lyrics, including the killer bees line, came directly from the kids in the ad.
Constantly creating: Vizcaino said “Rebuild the world,” the brand’s global tagline, is an “invitation for everyone to just create something.” The creative team at Lego applied that logic—and the “Don’t Stop Me Now” mentality—when making the ad, which he said was initially going to end with a single shot of a rocket. Then it became a rocket leaving the globe. Then it became a rocket leaving a globe that’s doubling as an ice cream cone. Practice what you preach.
Easter eggs: Vizcaino said there are a number of hidden gems in the ad, like the princess driving the car with a keychain of the real princess minifigure (1:02). There are also subtle references to inclusivity, like the same-sex Romeo & Julio poster (1:11) and the cabaret-dancer minifigure, played by a drag queen (1:20). “If we really want to be representative of this world, we just need to do it instead of screaming that we are,” Vizcaino said. “It’s a proper representation of us as human beings.”