Oobi was a toy, invented by Herb Fisher of Block Island, Rhode Island and
test market
A test market, in the field of business and marketing, is a geographic region or demographic group used to gauge the viability of a product or service in the mass market prior to a wide scale roll-out. The criteria used to judge the acceptabilit ...
ed by
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
in 1971, that was intended to pass a message to a recipient relying on "the kindness of strangers" as transport.
Physically, an Oobi is a bright orange oblong
spheroid
A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has cir ...
with a slit, an addressing area, and big painted-on eyes. They were sold in packs of three. The original purchaser was to write an address on the address area, place a folded message inside, and leave the toy somewhere public to be found. Instructions to the finder were written on the Oobi's top: "I'm oobi. I contain a message to another human being. Please further my journey an inch, a foot, or a mile. Add a note, if you wish. Then help me to the next nice person like yourself! I'm on my way to ... Please don't confine me to a mailbox."
In spite of television advertisements and its slogan "oobi means love" it never caught on during trials on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
and the Northeast, and has been described as the toy company's "wildest failure".
[Parker Brothers, ''90 Years of Fun: The History of the Parker Brothers'', 1973]
References
External links
Oobi Land
1970s toys
{{Toy-stub