It finally happened: Hasbro, the creator of the Scrabble board game, was successful in getting the uber-popular Scrabulous app removed from Facebook.  In doing so, they may well have alienated a huge number of would-be fans.

The point could be well argued that Scrabulous was in fact creating value for Hasbro’s product.  After all, what board game would a Scrabulous fan be eager to play when hanging out face-to-face with friends and family on vacations or during the holidays, for example?  Scrabble, of course! But this may not be the case anymore, as bad tastes can linger.

Authors Cory Doctorow and Matt Mason have scribed recent articles describing somewhat similar misplaced action taken by the record industry against potential filesharers.  Instead of working toward some sort of sane payment system or reasonable solution, the record folks have made it clear that they will fight this battle using the iron first of the law.  In doing so, they may be pushing would-be customers further away.

Hasbro’s best move may have been to approach the Scrabulous developers right away, nipping the problem in the bud.  Perhaps they could have had it taken down, or even better, worked out some sort of system for royalty payment.

Instead, they have taken the attack.  What is it that they expect out of this?  Do they really think the popularity of Scrabulous will transfer right on over to their Scrabble app?  I would not count on it. That would be mistaking shadow (the superficial aspects that make up the game Scrabble) for substance (the hip, trendy, coolness, and “it” characteristics of Scrabulous).

All of those substance adjectives are what really matter, and they will quickly be reborn somewhere else.  This move will have certainly put the nail in “cool” coffin. So, as Hasbro recovers from the hack that brought spoiled the launch of their “official” Scrabble app, many would-be users may already have hit the road on the way to whatever is next.