New LEGO Instagram advert harks back to a classic from wayback

A new Instagram ad from the LEGO Group will ring a few bells with brick fans of a certain age. By which we mean ‘the wrong side of 50’.

We were trawling the ‘gram when we came across a post from the LEGO Group. It focused on 31129 Majestic Tiger from the popular Creator 3-in-1 range and over the course of a few moments, the tiger becomes a fish, but not before it flies around as a helicopter.

This, of course, is all achieved via the wonders of computer animation, but it couldn’t help but remind us of a LEGO Group ad from many moons ago. We’re not sure exactly when it was – we’re going to take a guess at the early 1980s – but given that it tells you that LEGO sets are available ‘from 82p’, that should give you an idea of its vintage.

The overarching theme is similar – one model becomes another – but takes the idea to extremes. A mouse, faced with a cat, transforms itself into a dog, and things escalate from there. For those of a nervous disposition, we’ll add a trigger warning that this advert does feature an Anti-kipper ballistic missile. The voiceover, while sounding like Tommy Cooper (ask your parents) was in fact, talented impressionist, Roger Kitter.

It just goes to show that four decades on, there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to advertising, and that if you’re confronted with a dragon, a Knight with a sword shouldn’t necessarily be the first thing that you look for.

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