It's Hard to Avoid The Lego Movie

With $193 million in the bank worldwide, The LEGO Movie has had a very strong opening. LEGO fans have been aware of the movie for some time, eagerly anticipating its release. It's not just LEGO fans who bring in that kind of money though, which is why The LEGO Movie has had one heck of a marketing push...

The LEGO Movie has had a full-on promotional blitz in the UK. Three adverts were re-produced in LEGO to be shown during an advert break on the apparently popular Dancing on Ice, and are still showing before The LEGO Movie at Odeon Cinemas. The Culture Show screened an episode looking at the impact that LEGO has on architecture, and is still available on BCC iPlayer. Numerous adverts have also been running on a variety of channels.

LEGO also has the added bonus of having the actual toy to promote the movie with. Toymaster stores have a window display for The LEGO Movie, as do branches of The Entertainer. Having a February release in 2014 was a good move for the product line, as there are not many other major toy launches happening at the moment.

Promotions are also taking place to encourage everyone to get involved. McDonalds Happy Meals currently include a LEGO cup, plus a voucher to take to WHSmith and pick up a selected LEGO book for £1. The LEGO online store is giving away an exclusive polybag set with a £25 spend. At Odeon Cinemas a Kids Mix (popcorn, chocolate and a drink) is priced at £3.25 and includes an exclusive mini-figure of either Emmet in Pyjamas or DJ Robot – quite the bargain considering a Collectible Minifigure now costs £2.49.

Then there is also the traditional form of marketing a movie. Shopping Centres have their elevator doors adorned with The LEGO Movie poster, and digital billboards are constantly showing the poster with the trailer playing above. 

The cinemas themselves of course have the typical standees and posters, with Cineworld in particular going all-out. The most fun standee is undoubtedly the LEGO audience settling down to watch the movie, with a space to join in.

With all of this activity going on, it's hard to avoid knowing that The LEGO Movie is out at cinemas now. Along with the positive critical reaction and great word of mouth, there is a good chance that this film could be at the cinema for a while yet as it continues to outperform expectations.