• Ad Age, Monday, March 27, 2006 11:45 AM

Easter is coming up, and that means baskets for kids filled with... board games? If toy marketer Hasbro has its way, kids will find classic games like Candyland and Life tucked in next to the jelly beans and chocolate eggs. Sales figures show that game sales at Easter are the second-highest after Christmas, and Hasbro wants to take advantage of the trend. To do so, the marketer plans a campaign that includes free-standing inserts offering discounts on board games and a TV campaign breaking April 2 that suggests parents "Think outside the basket" when it comes to Easter gifts. "We're always looking for ways to balance our year so we're not completely dependent on the fourth quarter," said Mark Stark, vice president-marketing for Hasbro. But the effort has raised the hackles of some groups who oppose the commercialization of a religious holiday. Janice Crouse, senior fellow for conservative public policy organization Concerned Women for America, said she is "appalled at the idea of Easter baskets as a marketing tool" and the attempt to use Christianity for marketing purposes. "The Bunny is to Easter as Santa is to Christmas, and it's very definitely getting worse," she said.

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