Reel Ad of the Week

Jane Lynch gets a playday in new LEGO campaign

By Reel Chicago
September 26, 2023

The LEGO Group has released its new Play Is Your Superpower campaign featuring the brand’s first-ever fully playable brand film, which celebrates the heroes that can emerge in a world that has forgotten how to play.

The brand’s new campaign has been created to encourage adults to prioritize play for the children in their lives. It will run for four months with three key moments: the fall launch, World Play Day on 12th October and during the brand’s peak holiday season.

Assembling superpowered talent, the film stars Illinois’ Jane Lynch as a work-obsessed CEO who becomes enlightened to the merits of play by seeing its impact through the eyes of six adventurous children. Each child brings a different passion and skill to a mission to spread play in a monotonous, structured workplace.

Superstar actress Sun Li takes on the role of the CEO in an adaption for families in China. The film, produced in collaboration between the LEGO Group’s creative agency, Our LEGO Agency (OLA), and award-winning agency Droga5 Dublin, part of Accenture Song, takes viewers on a journey that highlights the power of play. Watch below:

Jen Speirs, Chief Creative Officer, Droga5 Dublin, part of Accenture Song, noted: “Our creative team were on a mission to develop a campaign idea that was big enough to flex across the three key moments from fall, right through to the holidays; and Play is Your Superpower is exactly that. Of course, the only way to launch an idea like this was with a brand film that mimics a true superhero epic and opens people’s eyes to the wonders of play, which has actual ways to play hidden inside. We’re proud to have created a piece that features a line-up of diverse young talent that will empower both kids and adults to approach life in a more playful way.”

The film was directed by pioneering cinematographer, screenwriter and director Ellen Kuras, best known for her work on Academy Award-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Director of Photography is Rachel Morrison, one of the first female directors of photography for a big-budget superhero movie, Black Panther.

Female-led production company The Corner Shop along with Kuras worked with set designer and art director David Lee, whose credits include Star Wars and Batman Begins. Kuras also partnered with new Irish post-production and VFX company GABHA Studio to complete the superpower ensemble team behind the film that takes viewers on a fun-filled journey that highlights the power of play.

The campaign draws its insights from a recent global study finding that, on average, children are spending just 2% of their week (equivalent to 7 hours) playing, with one in three (32%) spending less than three hours each week enjoying play.

Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at the LEGO Group, said: “For over 90 years, we have been a champion of children and their right to play. We believe play helps children develop skills like creativity, confidence and communication that helps them learn and thrive today and in the future. Our Rebuild the World platform has helped us celebrate the power of play since 2019 and we’re excited by the next iteration of the campaign to inspire people of all ages to reprioritise play in their lives.”

Comparatively, the average adult spends 26 hours a week scrolling on their smartphone, an average of more than 3.5 hours per day1. This current play deficit is a cause for concern for experts given the crucial role of play in shaping a child’s cognitive abilities, overall well-being and most importantly, in having fun.

Nic Taylor, SVP and Head of Our LEGO Agency, said: “We knew we wanted to make a big statement around the power of play this year, so we designed a campaign that celebrates just this. The film showcases the endless possibilities for play that children see, in even the dullest of situations, and shows the difference play can make to the world as the children rebuild it for the better. Jane Lynch and Sun Li add to the playfulness of the film by revealing themselves as forward-thinkers who want to overthrow the norm and inject more play into their workplace.”

The film is fully playable and packed with easter eggs, allowing viewers to play along and interact on LEGO.com and LEGO Life app, where prompts on the site will encourage participation. Families will also be encouraged to transform themselves into minifigures like the characters in the film and join a global squad of passionate play advocates on LEGO.com.

As well as the hero film, the campaign will feature a series of playful outtakes and bloopers to bring moments of joy to families. The fully integrated global campaign will run across a variety of channels including TV, digital, out-of-home, cinema, PR, influencer, and e-commerce.

The film will also come to life in LEGO stores globally with playable experiences that tie into the characters’ mission from the hero film. To launch the campaign, the LEGO Group has enlisted the help of a group of leading cultural figures who each attribute the skills developed through childhood play to helping make their dreams come true.

The Play Squad, including Tan France, Naomi Watanabe, Bindi Irwin and Stephanie Beatriz, will share the unique superpowers that play has given them and why they believe it should be a priority for every child.

The LEGO Group and a range of playful digital creators will also be bringing play to unexpected places around the world and sharing inspiration on how to inject moments of playfulness into even the busiest of schedules ahead of, and on, World Play Day on 12th October 2023.

CREDITS:
BRAND: Our LEGO Agency

SVP and Head of Agency: Nicole Taylor
Global Creative Leads: Hazel Tracey & Guy Bingham
Global Brand Communication Lead: Dan Worrell
Sr. Global Communication Partners: Simran Khaira and Lino Fortes
Global Brand Strategist: Rebecca Price
Global Communication Strategist: Richard Yardley
Sr. Social Strategist: Natalie Williams
Sr. Global Project Manager: Kenneth Sanchez
Head of Production: Uffe Bryld
Sr. Lead Producer: Elaine Lee
Brand Global Marketing Development Team: Alero Akuya, Lisa Nash, Kristofer Crockett, Jasmin Brennan, Rebecca Dover.