The Danish toy maker Lego said yesterday that it would not loot ethnic cultures for exotic new product names after Maori tribes in New Zealand challenged its right to use Polynesian names in a new game called Bionicle.
Lego has admitted that it did "borrow" names from the Maori culture and has pledged to draw up a code of conduct to govern the way it uses folklore to spice up its toys.
"Future launches of Bionicle sets will not incorporate names from any original culture," it said yesterday. "The Lego company will seek to develop a code of conduct for cultural expressions of traditional knowledge."
In the offending game, six heroes struggle to bring peace to a notional tropical island called Mata Nui. The Maoris protested that the word Tohunga - the name Lego gave to the cowed inhabitants of the island - was the Polynesian word for spiritual healer and that using it in such a trivial context was offensive.
Maui Solomon, a lawyer acting for the Maoris, alleged that the storyline bore "a remarkable resemblance" to traditional yarns from Easter Island.
Lego's decision marks only a partial victory, as current versions of the game will not be withdrawn. However, Roma Hippolite of the Ngati Koata Trust said: "We have been impressed by the willingness of Lego to recognise a hurt was inadvertently made and show that in their actions."