Evan Savage

CAS 137H
October 10
th
, 2013
Link for advertisement: http://speckycdn.sdm.netdna-cdn.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/03/legoad2.jpg
Never Lego of Your Imagination
Everyone had a favorite toy when they were younger. Many girls had themselves fussing
over Barbies and always requiring the latest one, and boys had their highly coveted G.I. Joes.
Remember, they are action figures, not dolls. There eventually came a time when these
children grew tired of the same toy. Barbies and G.I. Joes did not allow for a full sense of
unstructured creativity. One could put the characters in different scenarios, but at the end of
the day, Barbie was still Barbie, and G.I. Joe was still a doll. Action figure. The star of creative
expression in children has to be Legos. Knex and Mega Blocks can say what they want, but no
other building block-oriented toy company has come close to the success of the Lego Group.
With only a couple of different blocks, there is already more than a thousand ways to piece
them together. The possibilities only rise exponentially as more bricks are added. Legos provide
not just a great play experience but act as a medium for creative expression that is accessible to
everyone ranging from an aspiring amateur to an adept building set designer. This
advertisement really hits on the humble beginnings of everyones Lego experience.
Surprisingly enough, the Lego Group sponsored this Lego advertisement. Who would
have guessed? The private companys headquarters are housed in Billund, Denmark where Ole
Kirk Christiansen began to formulate the Lego idea. He was originally a carpenter who started
creating wooden block toys in the 1930s. The Lego name is derived from the Danish phrase leg
godt, which is translated as play well. The wooden block design was manipulated over the
years into a cheaper plastic alternative. Mass production of Legos began finally in 1949 with
widespread success. It only took a few more years for The Lego Group to rule out all the kinks
and sell the product internationally.
This very clever advertisement does not have much to mull over, but it does a great job
of targeting an audience. Anyone who has played with Legos at some point was not always
proficient with creating elaborate structures. This is the first thought that comes to mind when
an individual gazes on the advertisement. The source of the picture did not say exactly where
the advertisement would have been published, but a spot in a magazine or a poster on a street
seem like viable options. The image does not require a large amount of time to really be able to
absorb the message within.
Many things in the surrounding world are red. Stop signs are red. Do Not Enter signs are
red. Red lights at intersections are red. The color catches ones attention who may be
presented with an array of colors in his or her field of vision. It is easy to pick out and very
distinguishable. Picking out the red in the advertisement is made even easier with the entirely
blue background. Red is often associated with excitement and fun as well which is reflective of
The Lego Groups mission to create this highly amusing toy again and again. Blue in the image is
used to simulate an ocean or the sky or both. It can also be relating the confidence a young
child has when formulating this simple creation. The bricks do not look like an airplane to
others, but to the novice creator, it could not be anything else but an airplane.
The two bricks are poised as if they are floating above the slanted blue plane from the
perspective of someone viewing the advertisement. The visual component that really captures
the cleverness of the advertisement is the shadow poised on the surrounding blue landscape.
The two square, turbulent, and non-aerodynamically crafted blocks do not resonate such a
sleek and elegant shadow in realistic scenarios. Whatever the individual makes is their own,
and no one can change that. This is what makes Lego such a unique toy. These same two
pictured blocks could be rearranged to create a tower, a boat, a bat, or anything really. It is all
dependent on what the designer envisions in their own creation. Then when they are finished
with one design, it can be deconstructed and made into a multitude of different entities.
Tone is another important factor of the advertisement. This minimal combination of red
and blue, the two easily recognizable bricks, and occupancy of a minute area simulates a very
calm and playful mood. A laidback, no worries beautiful day comes to mind when seeing the
blue sky and/or ocean. Combining the backdrop with the warm red of the bricks and the
brilliant shadow conveys the playful tone of a childs unparalleled imaginative capabilities.
Rhetorical strategy is evidently used in the advertisement. Appeal to pathos is the most
conspicuous. People make an emotional connection with the image because their Lego
experience started just like the one pictured. They were at a point where their imaginative skills
were far more advanced than their concrete technical and engineering skills. Older individuals
who grew up with Legos may be influenced by the advertisement to a point where they go out
and buy some for their own children so they can have to the same fulfilling experience of
creating whatever the mind can muster. Additionally, there is a smaller but still present appeal
to logos. It plays into the pathos mindset of how as a child, this simple two brick creation could
be anything the designer wanted it to be. It is not necessarily a matured sense of logos, but it is
representative of how a young child thinks in the presence of Legos.
With regard to contexts, this image showcases a technological one. Someone else
looking at the two red bricks in the absence of the shadow may think the design is a cross
instead of an airplane which could reflect a religious context. The advertisement shows how
Legos can represent really any context outside of the suggested one. The two bricks can be
whatever one wants them to be in any orientation. It all comes back to imagination.
This advertisement really showcases the humble beginnings of ones Lego experience
and the great amount of imagination required to fill out ones own design. Despite the ads
minimalist nature, a very real and relatable message is contained within. This particular Lego
example really evokes the toys imaginative and playful sense from a few different viewpoints.
It shows how various creations are entirely unique to different individuals regardless of its
complexity or coherent nature. Just like a painter on canvas, Legos allow a limitless freedom for
artistic expression regardless of personal experience. Everyone has to start somewhere.