When a Lego bouquet instead of fresh flowers was used at an end-of-year broadcasting awards ceremony, the floriculture industry erupted in protest.
At the year-end 2025 MBC Entertainment Awards, winners were given a Lego bouquet that can be kept permanently rather than fresh flowers, along with a trophy. The same bouquet was given to everyone from new artist award winner Kim Yeon-kyung to grand prize winner Yu Jae-seok.
However, on the 9th the Korea Florist Association released a statement saying, "Using toy bouquets could be another wound for floriculture farms and florists who are struggling with an economic downturn and shrinking consumption. There is a risk that fresh flower bouquets could be perceived as inefficient and having many drawbacks."
The association said, "Some 20,000 small florist businesses and numerous floriculture farms are engaged in Korea's floral industry, so fresh flower consumption is directly tied to their livelihoods," adding, "The government is also policywise supporting flower consumption promotion and the spread of a flower-living culture through the Act on the Development of the Floriculture Industry and the Promotion of Floriculture Culture, so using toy flowers on a broadcast program with large public influence could pour cold water on these policy efforts."
MBC used Lego bouquets for all award winners at the 2025 MBC Entertainment Awards, and also decorated attendees' tables and the hosts' desk with the Lego botanical series.
Netizens showed mixed reactions to the floriculture industry's statement. Those who said there was no problem with using Lego bouquets commented, "Isn't it the user's choice what they use?", "From the broadcaster's perspective it's convenient because it can be kept longer and there's no storage problem," and "I liked it because it was novel."
Those who sympathized with the floriculture industry's position reacted, "I'm not saying toy bouquets are bad, but they really feel like toys to give at an awards ceremony, so not great," "They are not reused, so they don't help the environment," and "I think there's a reason others don't do it elsewhere."
[Photo] Antenna, Lego
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