French Monopoly 80th Anniversary - Hasbro France has announced that 80 sets of its monopoly board game on the market have been fitted with varying amount of real bank notes to mark the 80th anniversary of the game in the country.
According to Hasbro brand manager Florence Gaillard, the idea to use real money to replace the game notes was came from the company's customers. "When we asked our French customers, they told us they wanted to find real money in their Monopoly boxes," she said.
Reports indicate that in one set of the popular board game, all of the fake bank notes have been replaced with real money, which amount to about $23,268 (20,580 euros). Ten sets of the game are reported to contain about $340 (300 euros), and about $170 (150 euros) are said to be in about 69 other sets.
The scheme to put cash in the boxes was reportedly carried out in top secret before they were shipped among about 30,000 other boxes of the game to different locations across the country. The cash prizes are reportedly in four particular types of monopoly games: classic, junior, electronic and vintage.
Patrice Wimmer, a bailiff hired by Hasbro to count the bank notes, says it will be very difficult to tell the cash-laden boxes of monopoly from those with fake bank notes. "The difference is marginal, unless you turn up at the shop with precision scales," he said.
Monopoly was first introduced into France in the early 20th century. Despite being an instant success in the country, the popularity of the game was affected by the fact that it was viewed as antagonistic to the German Nazi establishment. According to Hasbro, money, maps, compasses and other tools were usually hidden inside monopoly boxes that were smuggled into prisoner camps in Germany during the Second World War.
