MONOPOLY BRAND HISTORY
In 1935, Parker Brothers began selling the MONOPOLY property trading game, which would quickly become a cultural phenomenon. Now eighty years later, more than 1 billion people in 114 countries have played the game designed by Charles Darrow and based on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The images, colors and properties of the MONOPOLY game are now iconic pieces of pop culture. In 1933, Charles Darrow made a prototype of the new game using materials from around his home. He used a piece of oilcloth that had been a table covering for the game’s board, cut the houses and hotels out of scraps of wooden molding and typed the deeds and cards. The early mover tokens were actually charms from his niece’s charm bracelet. Darrow attempted to sell the game to Parker Brothers, but was initially rejected by Parker Brothers for “52 fundamental errors” that included the game’s length, theme and complexity. Undaunted, Darrow secured a copyright, manufactured the game and sold it at department stores in Philadelphia. Following the local success of the game, Parker Brothers reconsidered their initial rejection and negotiated the rights to market the game. On March 19, 1935, Parker Brothers acquired the rights for the MONOPOLY game from Charles Darrow and began selling the game shortly after in the United States. Within a year of the release of the game in the U.S., 35,000 copies of the game were being made each week. The game sold for about $2. Parker Brothers then granted licensing rights to the game in Europe to Waddington’s in London. To make the game relevant to their consumers, the names of the properties were changed to well known streets in London. This is a practice that continues today whenever the game is introduced to a new country.
Over the years, the game and the rules have remained virtually unchanged even though the packaging has gone through many revisions and specialty editions – covering topics as varied as sports teams and movies. The MONOPOLY brand also has a longstanding history of inviting its fans to help make changes to the game. To celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2005, Hasbro invited fans of the game to help update the board in their respective countries to reflect what the game board would look like if it were created today instead of in 1935. The votes resulted in Here & Now editions of the game in each country. In 2008, Hasbro invited fans worldwide to vote for which cities they would like to see on the game board of a global edition of the game, MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World Edition – a first for the MONOPOLY brand since all games to date were based on the regional area. Montreal and Riga took home top honors in the vote and earned the highest value property spaces. In 2010, residents of Canada, Turkey, Russia, Korea, Peru and Hong Kong voted to create updated versions of the game for their area. In 2013, the MONOPOLY brand rallied fans around the world to save their favorite game token from being replaced. Ultimately, fans voted out the Iron token and welcomed the new Cat token to the Classic game. The brand also introduced the MONOPOLY EMPIRE game where players collect, buy, and trade top brands and companies - rather than real estate - in a quest to “own it all” and win the game.
In 2014, MONOPOLY fans again had the chance to make their voices heard in the “Great House Rules Debate.” Fans globally debated on Facebook which of their favorite “House Rules” Hasbro should add to the classic MONOPOLY game.
Today, the MONOPOLY brand is known as the world’s favorite family game brand and the game has been played by more than one billion people in 114 countries around the world. Whether fans play face- to-face, on mobile, online or participate in casino or lottery gaming, there is a MONOPOLY experience to fit every lifestyle. Learn more about the MONOPOLY brand at monopoly.com and join the conversation at www.facebook.com/Monopoly.
CONTACT: Marissa Connelly Litzky Public Relations (201) 222-9118, ext. 19 [email protected]