Star Wars Episode I came to the cinema for the first time in 3D. We also entered a new dimension – by letting LEGO bricks play music, through a gigantic barrel organ, entirely made from LEGO Star Wars. Over 20,000 bricks were arranged in such a way that they played the Star Wars main theme. Around the movie premiere, fans could play the organ in cinemas all over Germany.

Via QR Code, the built sets could be instantly ordered online. In addition, on a microsite, fans from all over the world could experience the organ and pick their favorite LEGO sets.

LEGO Germany was a co-operation partner for the release of Star Wars 3D –Episode 1. Therefore we were asked to create an involving idea to promote LEGO Star Wars sets in cinemas among Star Wars Fans as well as existing LEGO customers. The promotion had to capture the huge fascination of the Star Wars universe, selling LEGO Star Wars sets in the most playful way – while at the same time showcasing the innovative nature of LEGO.

At the first weekend about 60,000 people in cinemas were fascinated by the organ. Major cultural blogs from all over the world (e.g. wired.com, huffingtonpost.com, engadget.com) reported about the organ, exciting the global Star Wars community as well as millions of other readers and leading all of them to the microsite. In one weekend we gained more than 250,000 views on YouTube.

During the time of the promotion, 5 of the sets from the organ landed among the top 20 best selling toys in Germany – making Star Wars the best selling LEGO segment.

By opening up sound as a completely new creative aspect of LEGO, we fascinated the LEGO fans, involving them personally and giving them the chance to do something never done before: play music with LEGO.Since music is also an essential part of the Star Wars fascination, using the movie’s main theme was a perfect way to appeal to Star Wars fans and inspire their imagination, creating the Star Wars universe in their minds.