The animal rights group PETA has written a letter to LEGO asking the toy company to change its farmyard products. PETA argues that the toy company is creating a false image of life on a farm because the reality of farm animals is “blood soaked” and connected to the slaughter. Now, PETA wants LEGO to “rebrand” its farmyard products and make them more realistic for children, so little ones don’t get the wrong picture of life on a farm, which is bloody and violent compared to the way LEGO is depicting it in their toy scene.
PETA suggested that LEGO turn their farmyard products into animal sanctuaries, which are places where animals are protected and healed rather than bred for food and milk. The company suggested that an animal sanctuary would not mislead children about the “horror and cruelty” of animal life on a farm.
Mimi Bekhechi from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wrote a detailed letter to the chief executive of LEGO Group, Niels Christiansen. The shocking letter detailed how the farmyard products from LEGO are not accurate depictions of the horrors that go on in farmyards and slaughterhouses across the United States of America and across the entire world.
“Animal farming is a bloody, cruel business and, in 2022, no firm should be promoting it, especially to children,” the PETA rep wrote.
Bekhechi added that LEGO’s “pastoral scenes” on farmland are simply not accurate depictions of the cruel ways farmers treat their animals. In reality, cows, chickens, and other farm animals are stuck living in crowded quarters. Pigs are stuffed into cages, and other animals are mistreated every single day they survive on the farm.
Although LEGO has not responded to PETA’s letter, the chief executive of the National Beef Association, Niel Shand, did provide a comment about the incident.
“This is a misleading message from Peta,” Shand said in a comment provided to the media. “We have a responsibility to teach children where their food comes from through farm toys.”
Nevertheless, other animal rights activists believe that children are being taught lies about farms and farmyard life for animals. George Monbiot, who serves as an environmental activist, said that children are told the “cozy story” that life on a farm of idyllic and peaceful. In reality, animals are killed for their flesh and byproducts.
Monbiot wrote: “As young children, we are constantly exposed to benign visions of the livestock farm, which bear no relation to reality. The only farms most children are likely to visit are petting farms and play farms, which reinforce this cozy story.”
Do you think that PETA’s letter to LEGO will result in the toy company making changes to its farmyard products? Will other companies follow suit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Be sure to SHARE this article if you find it interesting!