Friday, February 8, 2013

No more Iron - Is that a CATastrophe or just IRONic?


"No one likes irons or ironing. We were overjoyed to learn there would soon be one less iron in millions of homes around the world, even if it a miniature replica game piece," said Mary Scalco ,CEO of the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute.

"Replacing the iron is exactly what dry cleaning and laundry professionals do" said Scalco. "Way to go, Hasbro."

So what the heck am I talking about? The demise of the Monopoly Iron. Yes, last year the fine folks at Hasbro decided to update those tokens we use while playing Monopoly. So they had a "Save your Token" contest. The fate of the car, thimble,boot,Scottie dog,battleship,wheelbarrow and iron were in the hands (literally) of thousands of online voters. One click at a time saved the other tokens. Only 8% of voters liked the iron.

"Fans from over 120 countries,including Djibouti,Kyrgyzstan, Guam and Liechtenstein, voted in the contest" said Jonathon Berkowitz, Vice President for marketing for Hasbro Gaming. Once businesses got word of the tokens wars, they took up the cause for in support of their favorite tokens. Companies like Zappos created campaigns for the shoe. Ames True Temper made videos supporting the wheelbarrow.But nary a dry cleaners or laundry supported the iron.

So goodbye irons!!!! Hello cat. Yep, the iron, the cause of many a clothing CATastrophe has been replaced by a kitty cat. Ok I will say I have seen the occasional kitty cat clothing disaster - pulling the threads of sweaters and the odd using a garment as a litter box. But the iron - oh my!!!! I cannot tell you how many times someone has brought in a garment with that ubiquitous triangle mark permanently stamped on their pants and shirts. The iron that decided to spit out rusty water on the silk dress or favorite shirt.  The shine that your iron makes on your clothes that puts your teeth and hair to shame ( in the right light you could be used as reflector)The worst ever- the triangular shape of totally missing fabric - usually in a spot that would make you look like an Exotic or Chippendale dancer if you wore those clothes. SO GOODBYE IRON!!!!!

While the sad and pathetic iron got less than 8% of the vote to save it- the kitty cat got 31% of the vote to win. The cat beat out a robot,guitar, helicopter and diamond ring. ( a cat beat a diamond ring - I guess Marilyn Monroe was wrong - diamonds are not a girls best friend)

The cat will join the wheelbarrow,shoe,race car, top hat,thimble,Scottie dog, and battleship in the Monopoly game beginning in late summer when the the latest edition hits the shelves. ( so if you want an iron - and why would you?) get it now. A limited -edition "Golden Token Monopoly will hit Target stores this month with gold ( just the color not the metal) tokens of all the current lineup ( yes it will be the last appearance of the iron) and the 5 proposed tokens - including the winner - the cat.

So no more irons!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!No iron - no CATasrophe - no CATaclysm - no CATerwauling..I can CATagorically state the loss of the iron will not be the CATalyst for the world's demise. The voters were apparently CATatonic when voting for the iron. So no requiesCAT for the iron. AH the IRONy!!!!