The Curious Case of LEGO Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead, a 2004 R-Rated British Zombie Comedy has gathered a extremely large fan base around the internet, and it has been done in LEGO by Customers before. BrickArms produced a Shaun figure, and this was OK to their business model because they are not a major company that has a world-wide family friendly status. The Problem (Or lack there of) comes when Belgian LEGO fan Yatkuu posted his version of a key set from the Movie on Cuusoo.

There was nothing in the rules that said it could not be there, and it was clear it wouldn't happen if it got 10,000 votes, but that was a non-issue because it went unnoticed on the sites for weeks. Wrong, lead actor Simon Pegg who played Shaun in the film, talked about this on Conan O'Brien, and he talked, and the votes shot, and they went, and they went, they hit 10,000 and went so much farther voting had to be shut down. Unlike normal, LEGO has lasted close to a week at the time of this writing without putting out a statement. They have no clear choice.

If they say yes, Will it ruin their brand and cause massive market failure and wide spread damage to the company. Or do they turn it down, and send a 'We Don't Want you' message to all Cuusoo users, causing wide spread damage to that section of their operations. There is nothing they can do to get out of this situation without some damage to their brand, Brickset user kenhew put it perfectly " damned if you do, damned if you don't". This is a really sticky situation and I would like to see what you all think of it.

Octan

Never seen Shaun of the Dead, but I think that if Lego says no to the Cuusoo users, then there'll be large amounts of alienation on both sides. But I doubt releasing one set would ruin them...

My guess is they will come up with some sort of "non-violent" zombie theme. After all, they did make a zombie is the Collectable Minifigures Series One.

Honestly, I know they aren't going to do anything about this. It wouldn't ruin, but destroy, them if they make this. Parents would be pissed, kids would be scared, adult collectors may think of it to be promoting a bad influence, and honestly, LEGO would be initially...

Screwed.

Well, if it's a "large interest on the internet" thing, then the response is obvious.

They could go out of their way and make it an "on-demand" set on their online shop, that way, the people who want it will get it and the people who don't want it don't have to see it.

Just my opinion, of course that would radically change Lego's business model... Hell, the last time this kind of "on demand" service was done, it worked out great... unfortunately it got shut down last January, if you know what I'm referring to...

They could do it, but there must be a way for them to tell everyone they won't(if they opt not to make it), probably have a PR make a video to post on Cuusoo, lego.com and their youtube channel where he explains why they aren't making it.

I mean, the media is already aware of this and Lego will have to explain their next move very carefully, and it's all thanks to Pegg's shenanigans(Note I actually liked the movie, but Pegg should have been more than aware this wouldn't end well, hell... he probably even predicted it)

This is honestly a case of an actor not thinking out his words, like this is causing a massive mess, and it has been reported nearly everywhere. It will be interesting to see what they do.

Octan

Well, Empy there might be one way out of being screwed, like what First Rate said.

No... parents hate zombies no matter what. 1 minifig didn't hurt, a theme would. They probably still would be, from about 50% of their market, anyway.

Well, let's not say that, if parents hate zombies then they'd hate everything even related to horror, yet we have that new original horror theme, don't we?

Probably not. Zombies are honestly something totally different and related to a man-wolf, a green man with screws in his head, and pale dude with sharp death, they're G related to zombies. I'm old enough not to be afraid of zombies, but honestly, they still even freak me out.

Something that they can sneak in to AFOLs, yes, something on the shelves, no.

I guess...

No comment from LEGO yet, but it is clear this is not making them happy. They just put out a statement saying they will now make sure all possible projects are 'OK' before they even get posted.

http://legocuusoo.posterous.com/approval-process-for-new-projects-on-lego-cuu

Octan

EDIT: Statement from LEGO

Congrats on 10,000 Supporters, yatkuu!

2012/03/31

Wow! Congratulations on a great run to 10,000 supporters this week, fueled by actor Simon Pegg's mentions on Conan and Twitter! We admire your passion and enthusiasm for the film Shaun of the Dead, and your desire to see a LEGO set of the Winchester.

In our previous message, we noted that due to the themes behind Shaun of the Dead, there would need to be some significant internal discussion for us to agree to produce this as a product. Please understand that this discussion has yet to take place, and while we appreciate your work and celebrate this big success with you, we are not guaranteeing production.

But for now, we celebrate. So without further adieu, we congratulate you on achieving 10,000 supporters and officially advance this project to the Review phase.

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

What happens now?

This project moves from the Idea stage to the Review stage. A "LEGO Jury" composed of designers, product managers, and other key team members will examine the idea. We'll build concept models and determine if the concept meets our high standards for what it takes to be a LEGO product, including playability, safety, and fit with the LEGO brand.

Every LEGO product goes through a process like this and must meet the same standards.

The review is a thorough process that will take several weeks. When finished, we make a "go/no go" decision to develop and sell the Winchester. We will inform you of our decision, and if green-lighted, this project goes into the longest phase of the project; the Development phase. During this time, LEGO model designers refine the product and develop it for release, we create the product materials (box, instructions, marketing), and get everything ready for a production run. This takes several months.

We will post followup information here and announce our final decision in the LEGO.com press room.

UPDATE
It has sadly, been turned down:

The LEGO Jury has completed the review of the Winchester - Shaun of the Dead project that hit 10,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO on March 31, 2012.
LEGO CUUSOO gives the opportunity to submit product ideas, however all LEGO products, regardless of age target, must be content appropriate for our core audience. With this in mind we have decided that – good though the model is – the film Shaun of the Dead contains content that is not appropriate for our core target audience of children ages 6-11.

Long before the Winchester received mainstream media attention, Greg (Yatkuu) contacted us in earnest to see if his project was acceptable. We recognized the potential conflict, but didn’t see a reason to remove the project. The model was presented tastefully and we thought it deserved fair consideration. With 10,000 supporters, the Winchester earned the opportunity to receive the full LEGO Review.

Greg has been a pleasure to work with throughout this process. We’re impressed by his model, grateful for his constructive approach with us, and we are sad to disappoint such a devoted LEGO fan.

We appreciate the passion exhibited for new product ideas on LEGO CUUSOO. Opening ourselves to new product suggestions invites popular ideas that don’t always fit our brand. This is the first time we’ve felt that we should turn a LEGO CUUSOO idea down, but we’re grateful for the spirit behind projects like the Winchester and for the opportunity to be challenged. It keeps us sharp and looking toward the future of the LEGO brick.

I knew it, I don't know why anyone would get there hopes up...

Even the LEGO Zombie minifig's backstory LEGO gave it was very kid-friendly.