Facebook Promo Puts Classic Monopoly Tokens in Jeopardy

In its Save Your Token campaign, Monopoly is asking fans to vote for the game token they can't bear to see retired in 2013.

Monopoly fans with favorite game tokens have until February 5 to cast votes on Facebook to save those game pieces from extinction.

Whether it’s the iron, racecar, thimble, shoe, top hat, battleship, Scottie dog or wheelbarrow, Monopoly’s Save Your Token campaign means the fate of one infamous token is in jeopardy.

When voting has concluded, parent company Hasbro says it will forever remove one of the classic tokens and replace it with one that “reflects the interests of today’s Monopoly players.”

The new potential tokens include a diamond ring, guitar, toy robot, cat and helicopter.

“The tokens that are in the game today represent household items from the 1930s when the game was first introduced,” says Ryan Mugford, senior director of global brand strategy and marketing of Hasbro Gaming. “We decided to introduce a token to the game that represents today’s Monopoly players and knew we had to involve our fans in the process. We thought the best way to do that would be to have a worldwide vote.”

Fans can vote daily for the token they want to save at Facebook.com/Monopoly through February 5.

Fans can also vote for the new proposed token they would like to see added to the game. The new token will be announced February 6.

Mugford would not disclose how many votes had been cast so far. As of Wednesday, the top hat and wheelbarrow were in trouble with 6 and 3 percent of the vote, respectively. The Scottie dog and race car were safe with 33 and 16 percent.

Monopoly has 10.2 million Facebook fans.

Fans can also campaign to save their favorite token on Facebook by sharing images and videos with their friends and on Twitter by using the hashtag #tokenvote, Hasbro says.

In addition, Hasbro has created a series of support badges for each token that fans can upload to show their support and persuade friends to vote, Mugford says.

“As people vote, we are encouraging them to share their vote with their friends via Facebook or Twitter to recruit additional support to help save their favorite token,” he says. “Throughout the campaign, we will release a series of videos that will show how the tokens are reacting while they are waiting to be freed from jail. Plus, we will be updating our social channels with visual and engaging posts throughout the campaign.”

While Mugford says Hasbro does not have a partnership with 9Lives Cat Food, the new cat token got a branded promotional push from 9Lives’ spokescat Morris the Cat on Facebook.

Monopoly also shared a branded image from Zappos expressing support of the shoe token.

This isn’t the first token change. Per a token fact sheet from Hasbro, a lantern, purse and rocking horse were removed from the game in the 1950s.

Monopoly games with the new token will arrive in stores in mid to late 2013.

In honor of the campaign, Hasbro is issuing a special Monopoly edition that will include gold colored versions of the eight classic tokens and the five new tokens. It will be available in limited quantities at Target stores.

According to Monopoly’s Twitter bio, more than 1 billion people in 111 countries have played Monopoly.

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