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Hasbro

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Hasbro (NYSE: [HAS]) is an American toy and game company. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world, second only to the toy giant Mattel. Hasbro is also the publisher of the world's most popular board game, Monopoly. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Contents

History

Hasbro originated with the Mr. Potato Head toy. Mr. Potato Head was the invention of George Lerner in the late 1940s. The idea was originally sold to a breakfast cereal manufacturer so that the separate parts could be distributed as cereal package premiums. This was not successful and Lerner bought back the rights to textile manufacturers Henry and Merrill Hassenfeld, who did business as the Hassenfeld Brothers, later to be shortened to Hasbro. The toy was a smash success, which led to their development of other toys and games.

Hasbro, Inc. is now the parent company of several subsidiaries. The toys and games produced by these companies retain their brand identity, which is an important advertising consideration. Many of Hasbro's games have been around so long that they have entered into the popular culture.

Hasbro publishes Monopoly, the best selling board game in history. It is available in numerous languages, such as this one in German.
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Hasbro publishes Monopoly, the best selling board game in history. It is available in numerous languages, such as this one in German.

Some of the Hasbro-owned subsidiaries are:

The largest subsidiary of Hasbro was probably Kenner (in Cincinnati, Ohio). Kenner was the toy company that was behind the success of the Star Wars, Play-Doh, Super Powers, M.A.S.K., Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears toy lines. When Tonka and then later Hasbro acquired Kenner, the Kenner location became the foremost producer for Hasbro "boys toys", leading production on the high-profile lines of G.I. Joe, Transformers, Batman and Star Wars toys. However, after sales declined in 2000 after the Star Wars toy market saturation implosion, Hasbro faced a difficult decision in cutting back its spending in order to continue to cater to their primary buyers. They decided to close the entire Cincinnati plant, relocating about 100 employees and laying off over 400. This decision, while good for Hasbro, created a ripple effect on the Cincinnati job market which continued to push businesses out of Cincinnati, which, with Procter & Gamble and Hasbro, had managed to be the midwest city for corporate advertising and graphic design.

In the early 21st century, Hasbro allowed for the use of Mr. Potato Head in a community art project similar to those with cows in Chicago and pigs in Cincinnati. Painted and reoutfitted versions of Mr. Potato Head by various artists sprouted up all over Rhode Island and were welcome additions in front of businesses and buildings (including a New England staple, Dunkin Donuts) for the duration of the project.

Hasbro would be the largest toy and game publisher in the world if it were not for Mattel's Barbie franchise.

Toys & games

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Hasbro has several brands of toys aimed at different demographics. Some of its more well known brands are:

Hasbro is the largest producer of board games in the world as a result of its component brands, such as Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, Wizards of the Coast, and Avalon Hill (all acquisitions since the 1980s). As a result it has well known and top selling games such as:

Hasbro also produces many variations of most of their games. For example, in addition to original Scrabble, the game is also available as "Scrabble Deluxe Edition", "Scrabble Deluxe Travel Edition", and "Scrabble Junior".

Hasbro also offers games of physical skill such as:

Hasbro began a short-lived computer and video game development and publishing venture called Hasbro Interactive in the 1990s, but disbanded it in late 1999. Now Hasbro develops video games based on its brands through third-party developers and licensing strategies.

On February 25 2005, Hasbro announced that it would be introducing a musical toothbrush to the market. The Tooth Tunes would transmit music from the jawbone to the ear when the bristles touch the teeth.

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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