Hasbro, maker of the Monopoly board game, has launched a campaign to retire a classic game piece to make way for a proposed new piece, and the USS Missouri Memorial Association Inc. is fully involved in an effort to save the battleship token.

"Hasbro’s public relations firm reached out to us regarding the Monopoly campaign that was launched on January 9," said Jaclyn Hawse, director of public relations for the nonprofit organization that maintains the historic Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

The premise of the global Monopoly campaign, unfolding via the Facebook social media site, is that "in an unlucky roll of the dice, every Monopoly token has landed in jail."

As a result of public voting, one piece will be "locked up forever" and replaced by a new piece for which the public also can vote.

Proposed new tokens include a diamond ring, a cat, a helicopter, a guitar and a vintage robot bearing the Monopoly man’s mustache.

Promotional tie-ins that generate national, even international publicity, don’t just fall into one’s lap every day — especially tie-ins that bear little to no cost.

The USS Missouri Memorial Association "immediately decided to champion for the battleship piece and started brainstorming on ways we could ‘save the ship,’" said Hawse in an email.

Memorial officials quickly found that online shoe retailer Zappos was "tightening their laces for the boot (piece), and we knew we had some stiff competition ahead."

Quilters and other sewing enthusiasts are rallying to save the thimble, dog lovers are voting for the dog, etc.

"The tokens are one of the most iconic parts of the Monopoly game, and we know that people are emotionally tied to their favorite one," Eric Nyman, senior vice president and Global Brand Leader for Hasbro Gaming, said in a statement. "When we decided to replace one of the tokens in the game, we knew we had to involve our fans in the process. We can’t wait to see which iconic piece will ‘go to jail’ and which new token the fans will choose to become part of one of the world’s most popular games."

Scottie the dog was way ahead of the pack in rescue votes, according to the online leaderboard, with 31 percent of the vote as of Tuesday afternoon. The race car was the only other safe piece at 15 percent.

The battleship was in neutral territory with 13 percent of the vote, as were the top hat with 12 percent, the thimble at 10 percent and the shoe at 7 percent. The iron, also at 7 percent, was considered "in trouble," along with the wheelbarrow with 5 percent.

Voters can cast one ballot each day until Feb. 5, and must have a Facebook account to cast votes.

Through the fun campaign, the Battleship Missouri Memorial has "an avenue to engage with an audience that may otherwise have no knowledge of the ship," Hawse said.

Readers of a certain age may pause when considering that many young Americans weren’t even alive during the Gulf War and may know little to nothing of World War II.

"Monopoly is a game that transcends that age barrier and will always have a place in the homes of millions," Hawse said.

The hope is "that we can leverage the campaign to spark an interest in the Battleship Missouri, the legacy of the ‘greatest generation’ and continue to honor the brave men and women serving in our armed forces," Hawse said.

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On the Net:

» www.facebook.com/monopoly