Is Scrabble going Woke?
That’s the first thing I thought when I saw a CNN report about Mattel bringing out a version of the popular board game that is less “intimidating.”
Less intimidating? Words are now microaggressions? I wanted a tile for Y.
The new Scrabble Together is also more “collaborative” and “accessible.” The changes make the board game less competitive, too.
Instead of competing, CNN reports, players “collaborate” to complete “goal cards” and if you are a little, um, shall we say slow, there are “helper cards.”
So now, in addition to thinking Woke, I am also thinking New Coke, the 1985 marketing disaster that remains a prime example of why one should not tamper with a successful brand.
After having achieved the miracle of participation trophies, where everyone gets a medal for just showing up, Mattel wants to make everyone a winner.
Isn’t that special?
Having stood the test of time as one of the most successful board games in history, said Ray Adler, Global Head of Games at the company, “we want to ensure” — here it comes — “the game continues to be inclusive for all players,” he said, forgetting to add “even the really stupid ones who can’t spell ‘cat.’”
But — wait!
Something’s wrong.
Back in the ‘60s, I worked for three years as a journalist in the toy industry, where one of my major achievements was a huge blowout of both the G.I. Joe and Barbie fan clubs, which were huge.
Barbie was made by Mattel.
Scrabble was not. Scrabble was made by Hasbro.
You have to read all the way to the end of the CNN story to learn that Mattel has the rights to Scrabble in the United Kingdom, where it did research showing that the Brits seem to be less interested in competition. Maybe Brexit had a bad effect on them.
A quick call — by me — to Hasbro confirmed that the company has no plans to change Scrabble in the good old U.S. of A., where competition is safe for another day.
If you don’t like Monopoly, there’s Ghettopoly (it’s been criticized for it’s use of racism, sexual behavior and drugs). Amazon still carries it.
😁. I remember the controversy when that came out.
Well when I go to the UK to see the Phillies in June, I will skip the scrabble store. The entire competitive dynamic of my marriage is based in our frequent Scrabble games where we keep a running score for a year. Even though I consider myself bright and a wordsmith, my wife is the champ. It is bad enough we can go to our phones now to check words, cannot make it any less competitive.
Have fun over there.
Stu, I continue to be amazed by the way your pieces hit the nails- let’s call them 4p finishings-right on the head.
You see something, do your reporting bonafide(s), pull from your bank ( 60’s toy industry ) and give us a bit to mull.
Just sitting here on the front porch on a gorgeous evening, enjoying an Old Fashioned , thinking how it ain’t so bad to be old fashioned.
N.B. I’ve only payed Scrabble a few times- but have a box in the basement- maybe/ definitely time to get my ass kicked by my Grandsons – but they should be ready to lose.
Thank you.
John, you don’t know how much I am honored by your praise. Thanks. (And invite your friends to join us here.)
My late sister, Barbara, would consistently beat me at Scrabble, a great game. What infuriated me was she would smirk at me when I lost and threw the board across the room. Best Scrabble word I ever got was syzygy.
I rarely played it because, despite my large vocabulary and experience with words, I usually lost because while I was building 10-letter words, my 12-year-old was making six-letter words with TRIPLE value.
But I beat her ass at Monopoly.
I loved playing scrabble, especially with my mother in law as she got up in years, she used the curse like a sailor edition in the nursing home, and then say them out loud when she got them! Most fun I had playing the game!
Scrabble, a great firehouse game back in the day, besides pinochle and poker and everything imaginable. We also played RSVP, an upright kind of Scrabble, which I loved. Surprisingly to me, Google says it came out before Scrabble.
Their research shows that the UK is not as competitive?
I’ll remember that the next time I watch a Premier League football (soccer) game. ;0)
Excellent point! No hooligans were in research.