HASBRO LAUNCHES ACTION MAN
By Adnews Staff
The newest action hero to find its way onto toy shelves made its North American debut yesterday when Montreal-based Hasbro Canada launched the Action Man line at an event held at Toronto's Ontario Place. The Canadian event was held simultaneously with the launch at New York toy store FAO Schwarz of the line in the U.S. The launch of Action Man in North America follows the success the line has received in Europe for the past five years. The Action Man story is based on a character called Alex Mann. Mann has no superpowers, relying athletic ability and intellect. In Canada, Hasbro's marketing efforts for the line include a fall print and television ad campaign, the creation of the Action Man Web site at <http://actionman.com> and additional marketing plans scheduled through to the end of the year. YTV will be airing 26 half-hour episodes of the Action Man cartoon twice weekly and will promote the series through print ads in its Whoa Magazine. Advertising and marketing activities are being supported with public and media relations from Advance Planning/MS&L of Toronto. The agency handling advertising for the Action Man line is not being revealed. The toys are available at mass merchants and major retailers across Canada.