LEGOs are for everyone. This is a truism that even the youngest child intrinsically understands. But although historically the LEGO Company has done an excellent job making sure that they market to boys and girls alike, sometimes they still make mistakes.
The four-year-old daughter of British actor Samuel West, a LEGO enthusiast, was looking through the latest issue of LEGO City Magazine when she noticed something amiss.
Of the 29 characters that spoke in the magazine, only one of them was female. And she only spoke once — to agree with a man. Kids have a well-defined sense of general fairness that allows them to spot inequities that grown ups have become accustomed to.
So she wrote LEGO a letter:
To LEGO Magazine people, Can you put some more girls in your magazine please?
Samuel West’s Daughter, Age 4
West posted a photo of the letter to Twitter and tagged the LEGO Group. To the toy company’s credit, they responded quickly, appropriately and with no attempts to make excuses.
We think your daughter rocks! We look forward to receiving her letter. Like you, we believe LEGO play is for everyone & that our magazines need to reflect that … We’ll review future edition to make sure this is the case. We hope your daughter will always love LEGO, football and blue.
@LEGO_group via Twitter
This is how the world gets better. When a child sees a basic unfairness, questions why, and grown ups listen.