Animal rights campaigners have written to LEGO, blasting the iconic toy manufacturer for misleading children about the '"filthy, blood-soaked" realities of farming
In an open letter from PETA, activists slammed LEGO's new farm set, which they argue gives children a rose-tinted view of "the horror and cruelty behind their dairy milkshakes and beef burgers."
The activists have now called upon the company to "rebrand the set as a sanctuary, where animals are free to live out their lives in peace."
LEGO's new Farm With Animals set will launch on June 1, complete with four mini-figures and eight animals. It will be released at the same time as a toy chicken coop and vegetable delivery truck.
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According to the LEGO website, such farm sets can "spark your child’s imagination, creativity, compassion and nurturing instincts, not just with toy animals, but with other living beings around them as well."
However, PETA strongly disagrees, arguing that "the reality for farmed animals is a far cry from LEGO’s peaceful, happy scene, which misleads children."
In the letter addressed to CEO Niels Christiansen, PETA Vice President Mimi Bekhechi writes: "Animals suffer in the filthy, blood-soaked meat, egg, and dairy industries – which are both cruel and a leading cause of the climate catastrophe.
"This rebrand would help children recognise that animals are sentient beings who feel joy, pain, love, and grief and should be cared for, not treated as edible commodities to be used and abused.
"It’s time we all stopped misleading children about the horror and cruelty behind their dairy milkshakes and beef burgers."
This letter comes shortly after journalist and environmental activist George Monbiot criticised the depiction of farms in children's books.
In a tweet featuring the front covers of four different farm-related books, Monbiot wrote: "As very 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 cosy story.
"As adults, we subconsciously seek the places of comfort and safety we encountered when we were very young, and associate them with what is good and right."
LEGO has not issued a response to the letter at the time of writing. However, as reported by the Mail Online, chief executive of the National Beef Association (NBA), Neil Shand described the message as "misleading".
Shand said: "We have a responsibility to teach children where their food comes from through farm toys."
Meanwhile, Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said: "This letter is taking something natural and innocent, like children’s interest in farm animals, and turning it into something malevolent."
The Mirror has reached out to LEGO for comment.
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