The only thing I hate about this campaign...

Is that I wish I had done it. For 15 years, I've been pitching Gen-X friendly, ironic, '70s and '80s childhood nostalgia campaigns to clients. Nada.

But now Lego has done it, and done it well:

Okay, so the compact florescent lightbulb is working a bit too hard. But just look at the parents!

And, of course, the strategy is bang-on for today's parents, who see their kids as projections of themselves (and perhaps of some of their own wasted potential). In a time when you can get all kids of expensive, annoying and rapidly obsolescent high-tech "educational systems", I see a real desire to return to the most basic of learning toys: Building blocks, Tinker Toys, Play-Doh, Meccano/Erector Sets — and of course Lego!

The idea that these types of toys are capable of unlocking a child's imagination and individuality has already been exploited by Lego, and exploited well, by a great Russian campaign I blogged about in 2010.

This one is from a German agency, serviceplan, via Ads of The World.

PS: Meccano! Call me!