17

Debates aside; I have been told that there used to exist a message either in Lego catalogs or inserts in boxes that reads as this:

The word LEGO® is a brand name and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special. Please always refer to our bricks as 'LEGO Bricks or Toys' and not 'legos.' By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud and that stands for quality the world over. Thank you! Susan Williams, Consumer Services.

Does anyone have a photo of this insert or catalog text that they could share?

mattdm
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going
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3 Answers3

25

Here you go, from a scan of a 1985 US catalog at Brickset:

enter image description here

The text reads, verbatim:

Dear Parents and Children

LEGO® is a brand name that is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely appreciate your help in keeping it special by referring to our bricks as "LEGO Bricks or Toys" and not just "LEGOS". By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand name that stands for quality the world over.

If at any time we can be of service to you regarding our products, please feel free to write to us.

Susan Williams

The text you quote above is slightly different and may be a variant from a different year, or perhaps it's just slightly misremembered.

It's from one of the "mini-catalogs" that came with the sets, so this was both a catalog and a box insert.

I don't see any such message in the 1978 catalog, but the one from 1979 has this:

crop from 1979 catalog

which reads:

Dear Parents and Children

The word LEGO® is a special one. It's our very own brand name for the brick supplied by our Company, LEGO Systems, Inc.

Look for the name "LEGO" - we're proud of it. It's on every brick we make!

Susan Williams Susan Williams Customer Service

The handwritten "Dear Parents and Children" appears to be completely identical, as does the "Susan Williams" signature. But, the famous admonition does not appear.

However, in 1980...

crop from 1980 catalog

Dear Parents and Children

The word LEGO® is a brand name, and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special. Pleas always referring to our bricks as "LEGO Bricks or Toys" and not "LEGOS". By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud, that stands for quality the world over. Thank you!

Susan Williams Customer Services

This continues (with slight variations in the text) through 1986, but in 1987, the request is gone:

from the 1987 catalog]

Dear Parents and Children

The LEGO Group takes great pride in DUPLO® and LEGO® brand toys, and if we can be of service to you regarding our products, please write to us.

Susan Williams Customer Services

mattdm
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9

I don't have a picture of the insert, but according to Matt Hamilton on meta, a very similar notice was once at the legos.com URL:

"We're Sorry... The word LEGO® is a brand name and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special. Please always refer to our bricks as 'LEGO bricks or toys' and not 'LEGOS.' By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud and that stands for quality the world over."

Community
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  • The problem is I am quite skeptical about the catalog statement and that is what is commonly quoted on the net. Being skeptical, a "used to be available" on a website doesn't quite cut it for me. I opened plenty of sets in the 80s and looked quite thoroughly through catalogs and I don't ever remember such a statement. Surely if it existed one of the fanatics here would have spotted it. – going Nov 04 '11 at 01:01
  • I'm pretty sure it was on the mini-catalogs that came with the sets, the same ones where you could special-order packs of bricks. – mattdm Nov 04 '11 at 02:54
  • I'm fairly sure this used to be the message that appeared when you visited legos.com, now it just redirects to lego.com – Ambo100 Nov 04 '11 at 10:27
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    Just a note, this doesn't answer my question. Although it is similar. It's a good answer, hence the upvotes, but it is not the right answer. – going Nov 04 '11 at 10:42
5

There is a page on the LEGO web site about Fair Play which is very much available and not "used to". The wording is a bit different, though:

If the LEGO trademark is used at all, it should always be used as an adjective, not as a noun. For example, say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGO BRICKS". Never say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGOs".Also, the trademark should appear in the same typeface as the surrounding text and should not be isolated or set apart from the surrounding text. In other words, the trademarks should not be emphasized or highlighted. Finally, the LEGO trademark should always appear with a ® symbol each time it is used.

The page also links to a brochure which is certainly worth reading (although it's not quite what you requested).

Edit: as far as inserts in actual catalogues go, I don't really remember seeing any. Iv'e had a look in the book 50 Years of the LEGO Brick which contains copies of a few older catalogues, but didn't find anything.

It's also interesting to know that in that book itself, LEGO is usually written without the trademark ®, and that quite a few times is is used as a noun as a shorctut for "The LEGO Company".

Joubarc
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    Indeed, we have had this discussion over on meta too: http://meta.bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/9/do-we-use-lego-or-legos – Zhaph - Ben Duguid Nov 04 '11 at 08:06
  • @Zhaph-BenDuguid - Yes, you did discuss the Lego/Legos thing, but I am specifically after a photo of the mythical insert/catalog. This doesn't actually answer my question. – going Nov 04 '11 at 10:44