Monopoly Ad Campaign Wins TOTY Award

Hasbro Games was awarded the highest honor for a toy or game marketing campaign recently when the Toy Industry Association bestowed the Marketing Campaign of the Year Award to the company for its efforts promoting the board game Monopoly.

The award, given to the company on Feb. 14, 2004, as part of the American International Toy Fair in New York City, was accepted by Dave Wilson, president of Hasbro Games, who said, "Monopoly is almost 70 years old and still the world's most popular game. It is an American classic -- make that a world classic -- and a cultural icon. A great year for a truly great game."

The award was given to the individual, team or company whose work represents the highest level of creativity and implementation in creating an integrated marketing, advertising, public relations or promotion campaign for a toy or children's entertainment product.

The highlight of the marketing campaign was the National Monopoly Championship.

Titled "Take a Ride the Reading," 48 competitors played on board a chartered train from "Go" in Chicago to the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. This "tournament on a train" generated more than 450 TV news segments. Among them, an 8-minute segment on CNN and a dedicated segment by Charles Osgood on CBS Sunday morning. Even Saturday Night Live got in on the action, poking fun at the tournament on the highly watched "Weekend Update" segment.

In total, according to a Hasbro press release, the tournament generated 120 million media impressions.

Other elements in the Monopoly campaign included new television commercials, promotion programs with McDonalds, The Monopoly Cereal Edition from General Mills and a giant Monopoly board game at Harrahs Hotel and Casino.