Hasbro’s Best Monopoly Game Yet…

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg really hit the nail on the head last week when he so aptly dissected Hasbro’s brilliant campaign to attract attention – and sales – for its flagship Monopoly game.  The news is everywhere.  Hasbro is going to “retire” one of the game’s eight iconic game pieces – Scottie dog, iron, top hat, race car, wheel barrow, shoe, battleship, and thimble – and replace it with one of five possible new game pieces.  Consumers, of course, will decide which piece to discard and which to add – creating an entirely new game around the game itself.

From Mr. Steinberg’s smart perspective, this strategy is reminiscent of a very old, very effective promotional gimmick:

“Publicity is more art than science. Yet, like science, it has its formulas. Start with spectacle — parade the circus elephants through downtown. If that doesn’t produce the desired result, mix in a spoonful of crisis — allow the elephants to ‘escape,’ then watch the photographers come running.

Or when you have a beloved icon, the standard formula is to mess with it in some insignificant way. Suddenly, in the words of Arthur Miller, ‘attention must be paid.’”

Mr. Steinberg adds:   “The media bit, big time.”

And one can expect that, beyond the significant buzz emanating from this campaign, there should be an uptick in Monopoly game sales among those concerned about losing an original.  Hey, we all have our favorite Monopoly game piece, right?

But before we leap to swallow the hook with the worm, Mr. Steinberg reminds us:

“Still, I’m not going to bemoan the loss of whatever token is cashiered by this stunt.  Even if it were my beloved top hat.  It isn’t as if Hasbro is going to come collect our old sets, and they last for decades — that’s why the company is doing this in the first place, to create a little false urgency and move some product during the post-Christmas slough.”

Well played, Hasbro.  Advance to Go!

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