Furby is back and is leaving marks of mischief all over NYC, turning the city into a giant sandbox of discovery – from an extreme bedroom takeover to glittered cement footprints and fur-covered objects. This is all part of a new campaign launch from Hasbro and Amplify, the independent global creative agency that specializes in experience, entertainment and culture.
The campaign, which runs from the 10th of July to the 17th of July, will deliver a wide range of surprise and delight moments sprinkled throughout the Big Apple, such as fur-lined park benches, trash cans and parking cones, anywhere that Furby feels needs a little love.
These charmingly weird moments and ‘good deeds’ in NYC will stop passersby in their tracks, encouraging them to capture the moment and making them wonder “what happened here?!”
Furby’s NYC crib can be explored on 21 Spring Street, where visitors can experience the mind of Furby and 90’s nostalgia, including lava lamps, disco balls, and boy band posters and of course, fur-lined everything. Furby’s Crib will host giveaways with special guests, and influencers invited to explore and spread the word.
The imaginative new world that is Furby’s NYC will be supported by a TikTok campaign, with Amplify enlisting NYC TikTok creators, including famous apartment tours host Caleb Simpson and Davis Burleson, host of What’s Poppin? With Davis to share the story of these strange occurrences in the city throughout the week.
The hero film, also created by Amplify, which showcases everything Furby has gotten up to in NYC, will run on the Furby social channels. Hasbro will also be launching a new range of Furblets exclusive to Amazon with a Furby graffiti takeover of Amazon lockers around NYC.
Amplify is delivering the project, having won the work in November, with its CoLabs team taking a strategic approach to the creator collaborations and brokering the partnerships.
Kimberly Boyd, President Global Brands and Franchise, Hasbro
“After reintroducing Furby last year, 25 years after the toy’s initial, craze-inducing launch, we were thrilled to see the same level of excitement for the return of our iconic furry friend,” says Kim Boyd, President, Global Brands & Franchise Management at Hasbro. “In celebration of this generation of Furby’s first birthday, we’re continuing the craze with a Furby takeover in New York City, and a new wave of colors for Furblets, our miniature besties. This is just the beginning for Furby, and we look forward to expanding this incredible brand.”
Aaron Taylor, Creative Director, Amplify
“Building a campaign around an iconic and culturally influential figure like Furby is every creative’s dream. And our transformation of The Big Apple into a giant sandbox of discovery brought this dream to life. From bold, colourful signs of Furby’s mischief scattered across high-traffic city locations to New York’s finest TikTok storytellers giving their “eyewitness” accounts of what they saw Furby do, we developed a multi-channel story that unfolded in real-time across both the digital and physical worlds. By tapping into 90s nostalgia, we’ve created a moment that delights those who grew up with Furby and enchants a new generation of parents and kids. This whimsical journey, filled with surprise and joy, blurs the line between reality and fantasy—proclaiming loudly that Furby is back (and more mischievous than ever).”
