Portsmouth rolling dice for Monopoly
City needs your vote to earn place in iconic board game
PORTSMOUTH — The city is in the running to become part of a new Monopoly game board, if enough people vote for Portsmouth in the Monopoly "Here and Now" campaign as part of Hasbro's 80th anniversary celebration of the iconic board game.
People around the world are invited to roll the dice, pass Go, and take their Monopoly token on a trip around the world. Two new games will be created, one a United States version and the other a world game. In each, the winning city will take the prestigious Boardwalk spot. The top 10 vote getters will become properties on spaces around the game board.
"We are very excited and want Portsmouth to be one of the cities," said Valerie Rochon, tourism director for the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce. "We are posting on our social media, on Facebook and Twitter and hope all our friends will share on theirs. Vote now and vote often."
As of Friday afternoon, Portsmouth was ranked around 50th out of 60.
"Show off your city pride and help Portsmouth make it into the top 20 before voting ends March 4," said Rochon. "Rally your friends, family, countrymen to vote for Portsmouth also by posting the news to your Twitter or Facebook handle using the hashtag #VoteMonopoly."
Hasbro, Inc. has teamed up with social news and entertainment company BuzzFeed for the campaign.
Everyone can vote atwww.VOTEMONOPOLY.com. There will be a "wild card" week from March 3-9, when cities not included on the list can be added to the running. The cities receiving the most submissions will be included in the brown property squares of the game.
"This innovative campaign demonstrates how we continue to keep the Monopoly brand relevant by empowering our fans to help create today's game," said Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president of global marketing for gaming at Hasbro.
The final list of cities that will be featured in the Monopoly Here & Now games will be announced on March 19, World Monopoly Day and the Monopoly brand's official birthday. The new games will be available this fall, featuring landmark tokens and new game play where players travel around the board to visit as many locations as possible, collecting passport stamps along the way. Players will collect cash from visitor fees when opponents land on their locations, and the first player to fill their passport wins.
According to Hasbro, Monopoly has been played by more than 1 billion people in 114 countries.
Portsmouth is also in the running to be named the "Happiest Seaside Town (www.coastalliving.com/happytowns2015), and one of the best locations in New Hampshire magazine (http://www.nhmagazine.com/Best-of-NH/Promote-Your-Business), said Rochon.