Israel on the World Monopoly Map

February 14, 2008 at 10:12 am | In Advertising & Media, Pop Culture |

Hasbro, the toy company, is currently developing World Monopoly. To select which cities will on the game board, the company has asked the public to vote on its website from a list of 68 cities. The top 20 cities will appear in the game, with the decision to be made at the end of February—in another 16 days!

Presently, “Jerusalem, Israel” is in seventh place (!). The Israeli Consulate in New York and the Foreign Ministry are promoting a campaign among supporters of Israel in the United States and around the world to visit Hasbro’s website, register, and vote every day. As more people vote for Jerusalem, Israel’s place on the World Monopoly will be ensured.

After the current contest ends, a second contest will begin on March 1 to select two cities to appear as “Wild Cards” in the game. The Consulate hopes to add Tel Aviv to this list and promote her selection as well.

Consul for Media and Public Affairs David Saranga, who initiated the campaign, explained, “The first stage is aimed at improving public relations. Millions of people around the world will make the connection between Jerusalem and Israel and realize that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. We hope that in the second stage we will also put Tel Aviv—a vibrant, cosmopolitan center of tourism and culture—on the World Monopoly board.”

Monopoly is the best-selling board game around the world; it is sold in 103 countries and in 37 languages.

The first set of Monopoly was created in 1934 in Pennsylvania. Since then, more than 200 million Monopoly sets have been sold around the world—that’s more than 5 billion little green houses that have been built.

The longest game of Monopoly lasted 79 straight days.