After a decade of being nearly forgotten, LEGO has rebuilt itself into a global toy juggernaut. Fuelled in part by The LEGO Movie‘s popularity, the company surpassed rival Mattel to become the biggest toy manufacturer in the world. The LEGO bricks are available in 53 different colours, with 19 billion elements produced every year. And more than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.

In that time, LEGO has made some of the most delightful advertising. And this series of print ads from Ogilvy Bangkok are just about perfect. The work won three silver Lions (in Print & Publishing and Outdoor) and a bronze (in Design) at the Cannes festival. The clever prints feature kids connecting bricks to imposing LEGO-made astronaut, firefighter, and rock star suits. The tagline: Build the Future.

“Lego’s ultimate purpose is to inspire and develop children to think creatively; reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future. The brand believes that play is a key element in children’s growth and development.” This from Ogilvy Thailand vice chairman Nopadol Srikieatikajohn.

The agency called on Illusion in Bangkok to create the pieces using 3-D illustration. From there, each was designed to be in the lighting closest to each career working atmosphere: the astronaut girl in space lighting, the rockstar boy in concert lighting, and the firefighter boy in fire-like lighting. And those three careers were chosen from LEGO career sets because the agency believed they would attract children the most.

Ogilvy plans to build the characters from the ads from actual bricks as an extension of the campaign. Take a look at the impressive visuals below.

Source: http://www.adweek.com/creativity/the-story-behind-legos-brilliant-print-ads-from-the-cannes-festival/