MATTEL / VICTORIA LICENSING & MARKETING The number one card game UNO® celebrates 50 years

MATTEL / VICTORIA LICENSING & MARKETING

The number one card game UNO® celebrates 50 years!

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, UNO® will engage kids, parents and fans of the brand with a year full of exciting live experiences, compelling digital content, relevant partnerships, and commemorative products.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Many people think that the UNO® card game is Italian because of the name. In fact, the game was invented fifty years ago in the United States with the name UNO® (yes, just as they say in Italy and Spain). Let’s find out why! In 1971 the game was called UNO® simply because its inventors (Merle Robbins and his son Ray Robbins) thought this Spanish word sounded nice. That’s it! Merle Robbins was a barber from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1971, at the age of 59, he invented the UNO® card game to settle an argument with his son about the rules of another card game called Crazy Eights. The first original decks of cards were designed and made right on the Robbins family dining room table with the help of Merle’s wife and daughter-in-law. Later, with their savings of about $ 8,000, they made the first 5,000 UNO® decks to sell. But how did they go from the first 5,000 decks to over 150 million sold worldwide? At first, Merle sold his UNO® decks in his barbershop but eventually sold the UNO® rights to Robert Tezak, a funeral home owner who was passionate about UNO® and had become a real fan. How much did he sell the rights for? Fifty thousand dollars, plus royalties of 10 cents per deck sold. So Tezak decided to found International Games Inc to market the UNO® card game and the offices were right in the backroom of his funeral home.

In 1992, International Games was acquired by Mattel and from that moment on, the game became popular the world over. Mattel has produced several variations of the game which are sold in 80 countries. With 150 million copies sold, UNO® is the # 1 card game in the world (according to NPD *) with 99% brand awareness.

A number of themed editions have been marketed, such as Barbie UNO, Harry Potter UNO, The Simpsons UNO,

Spongebob UNO, and Cars UNO). Computer versions have also been created such as a version playable in chat on IRC, an open-source version “Duo”, and a version for Windows Live Messenger and Facebook. And finally, Ganeloft developed gaming versions for Xbox Live Arcade by Microsoft, WiiWare (Nintendo Wii console), for Android and iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and PlayStation Portable.

A GAME FOR EVERYONE

UNO® is a game for everyone, that goes beyond language, culture and age, and is enjoyed for its simplicity. Mattel continues to innovate the brand and its category by listening to customers and offering more and more variations including UNO® Attack, DOS, ONE FLIP! and, most recently, the UNO® Artiste of vacation and sharing. Through the eyes of Lorenzo Serafini, Creative Director of Philosophy, UNO® cards were artistically reinterpreted to create a special look for the card game that has been a prt of entire generations.

and Minimalista series. UNO® is also the world’s most inclusive card game: in 2019, Mattel launched UNO® Braille, making the game usable for the blind and visually impaired, and in 2017, Mattel introduced UNO® ColorADD, the world’s first card game optimized for color blind people.

From iconic artists to athletes and nonprofit organizations, UNO® is committed to developing diverse partnerships focused on inclusive, sustainable and culturally relevant products. The UNO® Artiste series is a line that pays tribute to influential artists by infusing art directly into a deck of cards. As part of its 50th anniversary events, UNO® will partner with a variety of iconic names in the fields of art, fashion, sports and more to create products uniquely designed with fan-favorite brands. The collaboration with Vivetta is not the first in that the number 1 card game from Mattel has had in the fashion industry: in the summer of 2020 the UNO® and Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini came together in a special collectors’ editionthat paid tribute to the concepts

BRAND PROJECTS

In Italy, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of UNO®, the famous card game has been reinterpreted by the creativity of Italian designer Vivetta Ponti. The project was born from a collaboration with Vogue Talents, the division of Vogue Italia dedicated exclusively to talent and creativity, which commissioned Vivetta Ponti to reinterpret UNO®. The result is a new and unprecedented look for the pack and the back of the cards, inspired by her love of animals and the charm of poetry, which are the main characteristics of Ponti’s personal style.

LICENSING AND OPPORTUNITIES PROJECTS

Also on the licensing front, the Victoria Licensing & Marketing team is working on

Superfoodies Branded UNO® Cards for Esselunga

a number of activities and partnerships throughout the year For the 50th anniversary promotions, Mattel has developed style guides specifically for Softline categories to inspire fashion and accessory companies to create fun proposals for the whole family. The different proposals reflect the meaning of the cards in the game, both in the narrow sense (“friendship breakup”), and more broadly (“life change”).

In October 2020 a fantastic loyalty promotion with Esselunga kicked off. Over a two week period150,000 pcs of UNO® double pocket cards branded SuperFoodies were distributed in 160 Esselunga stores. For a modest price a deck of double pocket UNO® cards was included in the the SuperFoodies collector’s tin.

Over the past Christmas period, UNO® sold generic branded masks together with Bennet,, the proceeds of which went to support the Gold for Kids project of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi in support of scientific research on pediatric cancer. The generic masks, produced by the licensee So.Di.Co, and distributed exclusively by Bennet were provided in three styles, one of which was in the iconic colors of the +2 and +4 cards. Two seasonal products will come out for the spring season: Lindt and Melegatti UNO® Easter eggs. They will use different sales venues, for example, Lindt UNO® Easter eggs will be distributed through confectionery channels and in Lindt Stores, while Melegatti UNO® eggs will be available in large-scale retail stores.

LINDT, Easter Egg

And the summer holidays would not be complete without inflatable PVC balls of Mondo UNO® cards in two different designs, and a fun frisbee to play endless games on the beach.

MELEGATTI, Easter Egg

Cartamundi, a leading company in the production of playing cards, remains the main reference for the creation of customized decks in “mini and pocketsize” format, which can be used for cross-category promotional activities, an opportunity increasingly appreciated by many partners for the transversability of the target and the perceived added value. This is just part of what will happen throughout the year in celebration of UNO®’s 50th Anniversary, with other promotions with key food, softline and hardline partners still being developed. Stay tuned, all kinds of things go on around here!

*Source: The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service/G11/Jan-September 2020/Games & Puzzles Supercategory/ Units