Look, I'm all for ethical treatment of animals and what not but I am not a vegan. I'm gonna eat meat. This doesn't mean that I am going to go shopping for sea turtles or shark fin soup, but I really feel like a lot of these activist groups go too far with their attempted message.
If PETA wants to expose actual mistreatment of animals I will support them in their efforts to these ends. Have they run out of things to attack and now feel the need to police toys?
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So Lego has a new farm set, as I would imagine they do every single year since the company was invented and PETA is attacking them for "misrepresenting what actual farming is like."
Is Lego supposed to be representing what actual life is like? Well how about the Star Wars sets? Are these misrepresenting space travel and combat? How about the super hero sets? Are these giving kids the wrong idea about super-powers?
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My grandparents had a dairy farm when I was young and PETA is right about how the Lego set does not accurately depict what farm life is like. Farm work is dirty, very difficult, and involves stepping in poo a lot. Are they suppose to provide an exact representation of this?
I had a bunch of Lego when I was growing up and they were a lot of fun. I had no illusion that firehouses were really like the ones that I built any more than I thought that the spacecraft were something real. It's not about reality, it's about imagination and fun but I guess we are not allowed to have any of that anymore.
PETA then went out of their way to talk about how farming is a major contributor to climate change and how Lego needs to make toys that are promoting veganism. Wow, I can't imagine anything more fun than a vegan Lego set! A farmer's market maybe. Just imagine the hours of excitement that could be had with such toys.
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They complained that the animals looked too happy and while I am all for traumatizing children, I think that PETA should choose their battles more wisely. While PETA has drove this story in the media, Lego has yet to acknowledge that it even happened, nor have they responded. I think this is a wise move on their part.
I think there is such a thing as good and productive activism but these days it just seems like everyone is fighting for their chance in the spotlight and unfortunately this often means that whoever does the most absurd thing is going to get attention. Are we seriously going to attack toy companies for making toys that are too happy?
The world has gone completely insane.