LEGO had grown to become one of the top 10 largest toy manufactures in the world by 1990. Global
operations employed over 7,000 people and included over 1,000 injection molding machines in five
LEGO factories. LEGO utilized its strong brand image by opening LEGO stores to exclusively sell
LEGO products and merchandise. The use of television advertising also helped the company to build a
familiar "LEGO Maniac" slogan. With the increase of home computer use and the rise of the Internet,
LEGO launched the official LEGO website (www.LEGO.com) in 1996. Following soon after in 1997,