Lego to drop Shell contract but criticises Greenpeace

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Lego has said it would not renew a branding contract with oil major Royal Dutch Shell in the wake of comments from environmental lobby Greenpeace saying the toymaker had fallen in with "bad company".

But in a statement issued late on Wednesday, Lego criticised Greenpeace's actions and did not give a concrete reason for not renewing the contract.

"The Greenpeace campaign uses the Lego brand to target Shell," Lego said in a statement entitled 'Comment on Greenpeace campaign and the Lego brand'.

"As we have stated before, we firmly believe Greenpeace ought to have a direct conversation with Shell. The Lego brand, and everyone who enjoys creative play, should never have become part of Greenpeace's dispute with Shell."

A Shell spokesman said the latest contract with Lego "has been a great success and will continue to be as we roll it out in more countries across the world." He declined to say when the contract expires.

Unlisted Lego issues Shell-branded bricks and box sets including petrol stations, drilling ships and the Formula One cars that Shell sponsors.

Lego declined to say when the contract with Shell, signed in 2011, ends because it does not disclose contract details.

"We want to clarify that as things currently stand we will not renew the co-promotion contract with Shell when the present contract ends," Lego said in its statement.

Greenpeace launched a campaign earlier this year saying that Lego had fallen in with "bad company".

"By placing its logo in the hands of millions of children, Shell is building brand loyalty with the next generation of consumers," Greenpeace says on one of its campaign websites.

"Shell has launched an invasion of children's playrooms in order to prop up its public image, while threatening the Arctic with a deadly oil spill."

(Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London, editing by David Evans)