From Erik Arneson,
Your Guide to Board / Card Games.
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Any report that Hasbro has plans to discontinue the use of the brand names Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers is "just plain false."

That's the official word from Mark Morris, public relations director for the Rhode Island-based company.

(In June 2000, Games Games Games magazine reported -- and the report was picked up by the web site Gamers.com -- that Hasbro had decided to stop using the names Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers.)

"Our games still carry the Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers logos," Morris said in a telephone interview. "They also carry a Hasbro logo, primarily to let consumers know who we are as a corporation. But we do still -- and will in the future -- carry Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers logos along with the Hasbro logo. I don't know where this (the rumor) is coming from."

Hasbro, Morris said, has a strong faith in brand awareness for the venerable game companies -- Milton Bradley has been publishing games since the 1860s, while Parker Brothers emerged in the 1880s. Together, they account for many of the most popular American board games of all time. "When you ask consumers what names of game companies they know, they know two right off the bat -- Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers," Morris said.

"Those names have a great deal of credibility," he added. "When a new game is introduced, if you're a parent, you may not know what the game is about but you see that Milton Bradley or Parker Brothers makes it, and you know we do our homework."

Earlier in 2000, Hasbro reported exceptionally strong sales for their game lines in 1999, fueled in large part by marketing campaigns and "new" imprints such as Family Game Night, Get Together Games, and My First Games. Morris said the strong sales carried over into 2000, and the company remains very optimistic about the future of their boardgame products.

"As a corporation, we're into a lot of different things, including CD-ROMs and the Internet," he said. "But it's perfectly consistent for us to be very bullish about the boardgame industry. The other ways of playing are good experiences, too, but they're different. What board games bring is a very social experience."

Morris reiterated that Hasbro's future plans include using the brands Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers. "It is with great pride that we include the names Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers on our games and puzzles," he said.