G.I. Joe-Themed Episode of Community Is Packed With Retro Awesomeness

NBC's Community regularly pays tribute to its characters' pop culture obsessions, but it still came out of left field when the last episode focused on protagonist Jeff's love of G.I. Joe. 

Not a knockoff legally distinct from G.I. Joes, either, but the actual Joe toys and cartoons themselves, both owned whole cloth by Hasbro, which is apparently totally cool with integrating its product into a really good episode of an extremely dark comedy (Jeff was hallucinating about children's toys after mixing anti-aging pills and alcohol).

Update: Hasbro's Mike Vogel says he loved the episode. "They made all the toys and did all of the designs and animation themselves," Vogel told us. "However we did work with them every step of the way to ensure authenticity. The Community team sent us the script, all of the character designs, props, backgrounds, etc. It was actually a very easy process. The Community team are all clearly such hardcore G.I. Joe fans that they made sure everything was 100 percent authentic before they sent it to us. Their love for the brand was apparent in everything they did and we couldn't be more thrilled with how it all turned out!" (Who wants to bet Jeff mixes less funny meds with his booze in draft 1?)

One of the best things showrunner Dan Harmon and his team managed to do was include some slightly too real advertisements for toys based on the characters:

It's all series accurate, too. Overly earnest feminist Britta is "Buzzkill," uptight Annie is "Tight Ship," motherhood-crazed Shirley is "Three Kids," meta Abed is "Fourth Wall," and Jeff Winger is "Wingman." Each sold separately. And if the show taught us one thing, it's that collecitng 1980s military toys is a perfectly reasonable obsessi … er, hobby for an adult man and there is nothing unusual about it. 

And of course the episode had to include one of G.I. Joe's "Knowing Is Half the Battle" PSAs featuring characters from the show:

We'd post more of the ads, but they seriously make up about a third of the episode, so just check out the whole thing below:




In Monopoly’s Battle of the Brands, Carnival Crushes Coke, Nestlé and More

Some of the world’s largest brands are squaring off today in a high-stakes game of … Monopoly. Well, kinda.

To promote its new, brand-centric game, Monopoly Empire, Hasbro is hosting a Facebook “Battle of the Brands” featuring several of the companies featured in the game. The goal is to see which brand can get 5,000 Likes on its #BattleoftheBrands Facebook post first. Participating are Carnival Cruise Lines, Transformers, Chevrolet, Fender Guitar, Nestlé, Beats by Dre, eBay, X Games, Nerf, Ducati, Electronic Arts, JetBlue, Coca-Cola and Yahoo.

As of this writing, Carnival had already blown past the 5,000-Like mark in a mere two hours, despite having just 2.2 million fans, a mere fraction of Coca-Cola’s 73.6 million. A few brands, namely Beats by Dre, JetBlue and Chevrolet, were past 2,000 Likes, while poor eBay and EA apparently forgot to participate altogether—or at least hadn’t posted anything two hours into the competition. Perhaps even sadder, Nestlé and Yahoo did participate but hadn't broken 200 Likes yet.

While it may not be a true test of brand potency, today's challenge sure is a telling reminder that there's a big difference between having a lot of fans and knowing how to put them to use. After the jump, check out a fun gallery of branded images Monopoly created to tease the contest.


    

First TV Commercial for Monopoly’s New Cat Game Piece Is Somewhat Anti-Cat

Your cat loves board games, just not the same way you do. Your beloved feline wants to scatter all the pieces and then park her furry bum in the middle of the action, regardless of your intention to flirt with your Mystery Date or figure out if Miss Scarlett really did it in the library with a candlestick. Hasbro gets it. For its iconic Monopoly game, the toy giant crowdsourced a new player piece earlier this year to replace the long-maligned iron. Not surprisingly, the cat won, joining the race car, battleship, thimble, top hat, shoe and Scottie dog. Finally, pet parity! For the debut of this new token, Hasbro is launching the ad below, showing us why the sleek little silver version is a much better choice than the real thing for family fun night.


    

A vida é um jogo Mastermind

Um estudante tentando resolver um problema dado por um professor, o psiquiatra analisando o que diz (ou não) seu paciente, uma mãe tentando entender o motivo do choro de seu bebê… Tem até o militar tentando se comunicar com um ser de outro planeta (que na atual conjuntura da política internacional, pode ser entendido como um ser de outro país). Quase todo mundo já passou por alguma destas situações, que a DDB Paris resumiu em ilustrações e uma frase:

“A vida é um jogo Mastermind.”

A campanha impressa para o jogo da Hasbro – aqui no Brasil conhecido como Senha – faz uma ótima analogia entre situações do cotidiano e o jogo Mastermind, mostrando que as habilidades utilizadas são as mesmas: análise, raciocínio, lógica… As ilustrações de Bob London são um destaque à parte. Deu até vontade de jogar Senha…

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Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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McDonald’s e Monopoly criam um dia de “Parada Livre”

McDonalds Monopoly

Um dia de estacionamento grátis, em uma promoção conjunta entre o McDonald’s e a Hasbro.

Quem já jogou Monopoly (existe algum no universo conhecido que nunca jogou?), sabe o conforto e tranquilidade que é cair na casa de “Free Parking”, aqui no Brasil, mais conhecida como “Parada Livre”.

A criação é da agência canadense Cossette.

Brainstorm #9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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