To market its new "Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It" game, Hasbro has rounded up some of YouTube's biggest stars for an online interactive Trivial Pursuit tournament.
"The
interactive game on YouTube is a first for Hasbro," Donetta Allen, a spokesperson for the Pawtucket, R.I.-based brand, tells Marketing Daily. "It's also the first time that YouTube channel
stars have been tapped for an interactive game on the channel." After registering at youtube.com/trivialpursuit, viewers can answer questions to build up their own scores.
But since the main goal
of this version of the classic is to bet on what the other team may or may not know, viewers then go up against people like Gary Brolsma, whose lip-sync-and-dance routine has now been viewed over 1
billion times, Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr, now 6 and 4, of the famous "Charlie Bit My Finger" video (the No. 3-most-viewed video ever on YouTube), and Michael Buckley from "What the Buck?" More
than a dozen YouTube stars are involved in the promotion.
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To get consumers in on the game, the company is using Facebook, as well as an ad on YouTube's front page. And the YouTube version of the
game will also be mentioned in new animated TV spots for the game, starring characters called Wedgies, scheduled to begin airing next week, she says.
The YouTube game is scheduled to run through
December.
Separately, in a conference call for investors, Hasbro executives gave an update on the launch of the Hub, its joint venture with Discovery. Programming for the new channel, scheduled
to launch into 60 million homes on Oct. 10, is aiming to fill two major gaps: Shows made just for the 6-to-11 set, since so much programming already exists for preschoolers and tweens, and those
designed especially for co-viewing, with content that will appeal to both kids and parents.
In addition to original programming, such as a series called "Family Game Night," it will also air
Discovery staples, like "Meerkat Manor."