Monopoly flipped the board

The last time I played Monopoly with my family, it ended abruptly after a particularly spicy swearword was dropped and the board was (almost inevitably) flipped.

Sounds almost standard, til you realise we were all fully grown adults at this point.

And it might sound, well, unhinged, but this is the reality of Monopoly — a game where the aim is the bankrupt everyone around you while hoarding wealth.

(Who knew capitalism caused so much inequa… oh wait)

The deep, despair-filled pit in your stomach feeling that comes with not knowing how you’ll pay the exorbitant rent prices (too real?) that suddenly characterise an entire corner of the board thanks to your Dad deciding he’s a hotel tycoon…

Those intense emotions are bound to bubble over.

But rather than deny reality, a recent Monopoly campaign tries to shift the narrative around it — from a fight-inducing board game to the kinda family activity that can teach your kids how to deal with losing.

The ads paint an all-too-relatable scene, featuring some very unhappy looking kids, with lines like “For dealing with a setback” and “For learning to cope with losing”.

And look, I’m not gonna debate whether this is the healthiest way to teach kids how to handle setbacks or emotions or life in a capitalist society (that pit in my stomach feeling is waaaay too easily recalled for me to remain impartial)…

But I am gonna point out that this idea is undeniably brilliant.

Taking a known flaw of the product (that it causes fights) and instead of denying it, leaning into it.

Owning it.

And then turning it into a selling point (!!!)

That unexpected plot twist creates a pattern interruption, making it just the kinda thing our human brains find novelty in. And because novelty is the kinda thing that grabs our attention and keeps an idea sloshing around up there, it’s great for creating the kinda marketing that gets noticed and gets remembered.

So if you’ve got a well-known flaw to cover up, consider doing the opposite.