Ninjago minifig hunt: the (bad) buzz of the weekend

If the goal of LEGO was to make the buzz with its hunt for Ninjago minifigs, it has succeeded: Several national media echo this initiative. Unfortunately, it is almost exclusively to relay the anger, disappointment, annoyance and criticism formulated by disappointed parents.

At Ouest France, we are talking about "looting" in Rennes, angry tweets from disappointed parents to support it,  on LCI it's psychodrama, still in Rennes, with crying children, incivility and angry parents. On Rue 89, it is the Strasbourg operation that is criticized with a distribution that comes to a halt and a demonstration folded in a few minutes ... Not to mention social networks (Facebook, Twitter) on which the criticisms formulated by disappointed parents are widely relayed.

The hoped-for buzz suddenly turns into very bad publicity for the brand, although everyone will quickly move on.

Some obviously find excuses for the world's leading manufacturer of toys, which nevertheless has the means to pay for real service providers accustomed to managing this type of event and who knew better than anyone that the popularity of its products associated with the free access to it. Operation required a certain level of organization to escape the fiasco.

Organizing a free distribution of products in high demand also means knowing how to take into account the behavior that is not always very respectful of the participants, anticipating incivility, anticipating bad behavior, evaluating the impact of the campaign to promote the operation and not underestimate the influx it will cause, etc ...

I did not expect the operation to be a total success, there are always the disappointed service that spread on social networks or in front of the cameras fond of testimonies telling of "crowd movements", inconsolable kids in front of a promise of somewhat naive parents which could not be honored, of reports implicating the "thieves", the looters ", etc ... But one reaches there a level of frustration which largely exceeds the framework of the small circle disappointed people who have become grievers to vent their frustration.

It is certainly not a national drama that has just unfolded, it is just a promotional operation full of promises which has unfortunately turned into a masquerade in Rennes and Strasbourg.

This great Ninjago minifig hunt will probably not end in the "Projects"Of Hopscotch communication agency who handled the thing ...

(Photo credit: Ouest France)