Ghettopoly is a
MonopolyMarvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
parodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
released in 2003. Invented by David Chang, it uses
Monopoly-like mechanics in the atmosphere of a
caricaturizedA caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ghettoA ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
.
Game
The four railroad properties are replaced by
liquor storeIn the United States, Australia and Canada, a liquor store is a type of store that specializes in the sale of alcoholic beverages. In South Africa and Namibia these stores are generally called bottle stores....
s. Other properties include a massage parlour, a
peep showA peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures, objects or people viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. Though historically a peep show was a form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen, nowadays it more commonly refers a presentation of a sex show or pornographic film...
and a pawn shop. The
Community Chest and
Chance squares become
Ghetto Stash and
Hustle squares, while taxation squares are replaced by
policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
shakedownShakedown may refer to:* Shakedown , a type of plastic deformation* Shakedown or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft...
and
carjackingCarjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
squares.
Instead of building
houseA house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s and
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, property owners can build
crack houseCrack house is a term mainly used in the United States used to describe an old, often abandoned or burnt-out building often in an inner-city neighborhood where drug dealers and drug users buy, sell, produce, and use illegal drugs, including, but not limited to, crack cocaine.In the 1980s, inner...
s and projects. The seven game pieces include: a
pimpA pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
, a
hoProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, a
40 ozMalt liquor is a North American term referring to a type of beer with high alcohol content. In legal statutes, the term often includes any alcoholic beverage above or equal to 5% alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common parlance, however, it is used for high-alcohol beers made with...
, a
machine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
, a marijuana leaf, a
crackCrack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
rock, and a
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
.
Controversy
The game was criticised as offensively racist by a local chapter of the NAACP and black clergy among others.
The game was pulled from the market by
Urban OutfittersUrban Outfitters, Inc. is a publicly traded American company that owns and operates five retail brands: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN....
, its retailer. Chang still marketed the game without their support. According to Chang's now-defunct website, further such games were planned, including
Hoodopoly,
Hiphopopoly, and
Thugopoly. In October 2003,
HasbroHasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
sued David Chang over the game's similarities to
Monopoly. In January 2006, Chang was found in
contempt of courtContempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
for failure to produce documents.
The court thus entered a "default judgment" for Hasbro's continued use of "Monopoly" as a
trademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
, and dismissed Chang's counterclaims, which were to revoke trademark status on "Monopoly". In May, 2006, the court estimated that Chang generated US$879,000 in profits from the sale of Ghettopoly, and that damages of $400,000 were reasonable as reflected in the court documents.
External links
- "Students outraged over Ghettopoly" — Yale Daily News, the student newspaper of Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
- "Urban Outfitters pulls Ghettopoly" — Yale Daily News
- "Ghettopoly game causes outrage" — CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- "Ghettopoly: Is It A Racist, Offensive Game? — Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
- "Ghettopoly game sparks outrage" — BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
- "Ghettopoly game called racist" — MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
- "Hasbro: Do not pass go, Ghettopoly" — USA Today
- "Ghettopoly A New Game For Your Children?" — Cultural Health News Blog