The popular real-estate trading game, Monopoly, announced Wednesday that following fans votes on Facebook, the iron token will be replaced by a cat.
The results were announced after the shoe, wheelbarrow and iron were neck and neck for elimination in the final hours of voting that sparked passionate efforts by fans to save their favorite tokens, and by businesses eager to capitalize on publicity surrounding pieces that represent their products.
The voting closed just before midnight Tuesday. Rhode Island-based Hasbro says the wheelbarrow, shoe and iron were neck and neck for elimination through the Save Your Token Campaign. The new addition will be a robot, diamond ring, cat, helicopter or guitar.
The tokens identify the players and have changed quite a lot since Parker Brothers bought the game from its original designer in 1935.
"I think there were a lot of cat lovers in the world that reached out and voted," said Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president for Hasbro gaming marketing.
The cat received 31 percent of votes for new tokens.
The Humane Society of the United States says on its website that there were more than 86 million cats living in U.S. homes, with 33 percent of households owning at least one feline in August 2011. Worldwide, there were an estimated 272 million cats in 194 countries in June 2008.
