Here & Now

Hasbro has decided to update Monopoly. The new game is called Monopoly: Here & Now. Instead of being the top hat or the little scotty dog, you can now scoot around the board as a cup of Starbucks coffee or a Labradoodle. hunh? Interestingly, this isn't a marketing scheme for Monopoly -- the company chose the new "icons" to use as playing pieces, and isn't making any product placement dollars. They asked the companies for permission to use their names & logos - who would refuse?

Check out the Businessweek slideshow about the new pieces. I was wondering why they picked New Balance instead of Nike... surely the "swoosh" is as identifiable as the big N, if not more? But the answer is, NB still makes their shoes in the US. a-hah. But if that's the criteria, why not brand the laptop as a Dell? (ok, maybe I'm biased because I'm living in Dell country now!) Does Motorola produce the RAZR in the U.S.? (Based on the size of the pieces, I'm betting the cell phone is the one that breaks first! snap! right in half!)

They also changed the railroads to airports, and the train game piece to an airplane. And in a nod to America's increasing waistlines, you can choose the McDonald's fries game piece. ugh. And inflation has hit Monopoly, too -- when you pass go, you collect $2,000!

*Sigh* another icon of my childhood mangled and remade in the name of progress.

(In Hasbro's defense, they are still going to produce the original version, to sell alongside Here & Now. But what little kid in this day & age is going to pass up the game with the cell phone and laptop for the one with the top hat, train and wheelbarrow?)