One of the first was the revival of Cadbury’s Whisper. Then we had the Walkers Crisps Do us a flavour challenge a year later. And now board game manufacturer Hasbro is the latest brand to reap the PR rewards of an internet campaign giving fans the chance to say what goes into their product offering.

Hasbro Gaming, the makers of popular board game Monopoly, has just announced the results of a month-long Facebook campaign, in which followers were asked to vote out one of the counters from its classic range of eight playing tokens.

They were then asked to choose a replacement by voting for one of five new Monopoly counter ideas, which were a toy robot, a helicopter, a cat, a guitar and a diamond ring.

After a closely fought battle to avoid the axe, between the iron, the boot and the wheelbarrow, it was the iron that got the big thumbs down from voters.

The doomed counter is now set to be replaced by a cat, which came out winner in the poll to find the most popular alternative.

It is understood that the iron will go out of production with immediate effect and that the first games to feature the new token will start appearing in the shops in just a few months’ time.

There are many reasons why we think Monopoly has earned itself top PR marks with this particular social media campaign.

First, by giving people a direct say in what goes into the game, Hasbro has hit upon a great way to engage its following and generate renewed excitement about the brand.

Secondly, the results of the poll make a great media story. And therefore it came as little surprise when it immediately made the headlines in so many newspapers in so many countries across the world.

Finally, it is a story that has plenty of legs left on it yet. When the company finally gets its new feline-featured version on the shelves later on in the year then it’ll have another great opportunity to get more newspaper coverage and bask in the media spotlight all over again.