Word famous toy company Hasbro, makers of Monopoly and the Transformers, have had their key event showcasing this year’s possible Christmas bestsellers disrupted by environmental campaigners over the company’s refusal to stop using rainforest packaging for their toys.
The event, held in London’s West End, is billed as a chance for Hasbro’s key retailers to “come and see the top must have toys and games from Hasbro this Christmas”.
But half a dozen Greenpeace campaigners dressed in Santa costumes took over the event shortly after the doors opened at 11am today. The red and white clad environmentalists roamed the main room and handed out letters from children who are upset that Hasbro’s toys are packaged in rainforest destruction. One of the letters said: “Dear Santa, I don’t want any Hasbro toys because they are cutting down the rainforest and killing lots of animals.”
Campaigners continued to upset the event throughout the day. After the crowd of Santas was evicted, Greenpeace volunteers dressed as the iconic white moustachioed, top hat-wearing figure from Monopoly managed to enter the event, and threw customised Monopoly money, featuring an orang-utan, around to the assorted buyers.
Ian Duff of Greenpeace said:
“Hasbro is trashing rainforests and pushing critically-endangered wildlife, like tigers, towards extinction. This is happening because they use packaging which comes from the rainforests of Indonesia, home to species like the Sumatran tiger. Hasbro must stop wrapping their toys in rainforest destruction.
“We’re targeting Hasbro, and Mattel, right now. And we’ll continue to do so throughout the summer and even over Christmas if they don’t drop rainforests from their packaging. Everyone intending to stock Hasbro and Mattel toys should be aware that these toy companies are the subject of a environmental campaign.”
Greenpeace investigators used forensic testing to reveal that toy packaging used by Hasbro, Mattel and Disney comes from the Indonesian rainforests. The investigators also used a combination of ‘in country’ investigation, mapping data and traced company certificates to show that Mattel, Hasbro and Disney toys often also come in packaging produced by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). APP has been exposed many times for wrecking Indonesia’s rainforests to make products such as packaging.
The Greenpeace campaign to get toy companies to stop using rainforest destruction for their packaging started at the beginning of June, when Greenpeace activists, dressed in tuxedos to mimic Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, scaled Mattel’s Los Angeles HQ with a giant banner reading: “Barbie: It’s Over. I Don’t Date Girls That Are Into Deforestation.”
Since then, over 300,000 people have contacted Mattel, asking them to switch to rainforest friendly packaging, and a Youtube video showing a spoof interview with Ken has been watched over one million times.
Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of forest destruction in the world. The Indonesian government estimates that more than one million hectares of rainforests are being cleared every year.
ENDS
Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255
