McDonald's Monopoly: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 16:54, 25 October 2010

The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sweepstakes advertising promotion of McDonald's and Hasbro which uses the theme of the board game Monopoly. The promotion has been offered in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, and Switzerland since 1987. In recent years, Best Buy has been involved in the U.S. version, and later in the Canadian one as well. The promotion has used other names, such as "Monopoly Best Chance Game" (2003–2005, the beginning of Best Buy's involvement) and "Monopoly/Millionaire Game", a version based on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire TV show.

History

Like many merchants, McDonald's offered sweepstakes to draw customers into its restaurants. Laws generally forbid a company from administering its own contests, in order to prevent fraud and to ensure that all prize money is paid out. McDonald's had a relationship with Simon Worldwide Inc., which was responsible for the distribution of the contest pieces, and the payment of major prizes.

Fraud

In 2000, the US promotion was halted after fraud was uncovered. A subcontracting company called Simon Marketing (a then-subsidiary of Cyrk), which has been hired by McDonald's to organize and promote the game, failed to recognize a flaw in its procedures, and the chief of security, Jerome P. Jacobson,^[1] was able to remove the "most expensive" game pieces, which he then passed to associates who would redeem them and share the proceeds. The associates "won" almost all of the top prizes between 1995 and 2000, including McDonald's giveaways that did not have the Monopoly theme. The associates "netted" over $24 million. The scheme was uncovered when one of the participants informed on its ringleaders to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While the fraud was perpetrated without McDonald's knowledge, the McDonald's Corporation voluntarily attempted to rectify the situation by issuing payouts to new (legitimate) winners, awarding five $1 million annuity prizes, and fifty $100,000 prizes over a five-day period.^[1]

While the fraud appeared to have been perpetuated by only one key employee of the promotion company, and not by the company's management, eight people were originally arrested, leading to a total of 21 indicted individuals.^[2] The relationship between McDonald's and Simon Marketing broke down in a pair of lawsuits over breach of contract, eventually settled out of court, with McDonald's' claim being thrown out and Simon receiving $16.6 million.^[3] Although McDonald's was not involved in the fraud, it came under much criticism for what appeared to be lax oversight of the promotion company.^{[citation needed]}

In 1995, St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee received an anonymous letter postmarked Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning game piece. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and is making the $50,000 annual payments.^[4] Investigations later indicated, and Jacobson himself admitted, that he had sent the winning piece to the hospital.^[5]

Gameplay

The promotion mimics the game Monopoly. Originally, customers received a set of two tokens with every purchase, but now tokens come only with certain menu items. Tokens correspond to a property space on the Monopoly board (with the exception of the Golden Avenue/Arches Avenue "properties", which were added in the 2008 edition.) When combined into color-matched properties, the tokens may be redeemed for money. Historically, the grand prize ($1 million; annuity-only) has been the combination of the two most costly properties, Park Place and Boardwalk, but in a 2006 game the grand prize (in this case $5 million, with the traditional $1 million prize for Boardwalk/Park Place) was awarded for collecting the four railroads. There are also "instant win" tokens the recipient can redeem for McDonald's food (typically small menu items, such as a free small McFlurry or medium fries) but never for any food item that has game pieces, money, or other prizes.

Coupon pieces

Additionally, in the 2007 edition, certain foods always came with one coupon which could be used at either Best Buy, Toys R Us, or Foot Locker (including online stores). The value of each coupon was random, with Toys R Us coupons ranging from $1 to $5; up to $5 in coupons could be used in a single transaction. In 2008, these coupons were redeemed for up to 25% off any Foot Locker item(s). In 2009 and 2010, the promotion did not feature any coupons.

Products with game pieces

In 2010, the following products feature game tokens:

USA	Canada
Big Mac	Big Mac (Excludes double Big Mac)
Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)	Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)
Large French Fries	Large French Fries
Medium Fountain Drinks	Medium Cold Drinks
Medium and Large McCafe Drinks	Medium and Large Hot Drinks
Hash Browns	McMuffin breakfast sandwiches (excluding Sausage McMuffin)
McGriddles	McGriddles
Filet-O-Fish

In 2009, the following products featured game tokens:

USA^[6]	Canada^[7]
Angus Burgers	Big Mac
Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)	Chicken McNuggets (20 pc. or 10 pc.)
Large French Fries	Large French Fries
Large Fountain Drinks	Large Cold Drink Cups
Large Hot McCafe Drinks	Angus Burger bacon and cheddar or Angus Burger
Hash Browns	McMuffin breakfast sandwiches (excluding Sausage McMuffin)
Large Sweet Tea	Medium or Large Hot Beverage
	Small Frutopia Beverage
	Classic Chicken or Southwest Chicken sandwich (Crispy or Grilled)

In 2008, the following products feature game tokens:

Medium or Large Premium Roast Coffee
McSkillet Burrito
Southern Style Chicken Sandwich
Big Mac
Premium Chicken Sandwiches
Large French Fries
Medium & Large Fountain Drinks
Hash Browns

In 2007, the following products feature game tokens:

Big Mac
McMuffin Sandwiches
Large French Fries
Hash Browns
Medium and Large Fountain Drinks
Premium Chicken Sandwiches
3-piece and 5-piece Chicken Selects

Law requires that game pieces are available upon request, by mail.^[8]

Rare pieces

US & Canada

The rare collectible pieces that dictate the odds of winning are as follows:

Property	2010 code	2010 prize	2009 code	2009 prize	2008 code	2008 prize	2007 code	2007 prize	2006 code	2006 prize	2005 code	2005 prize	2004 code	2004 prize	2003 code	2003 prize
Golden Avenue*					271	$100,000
Mediterranean Avenue**	750	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards in Canada)	101	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards in Canada)	251	$100	801	$50	3601	$50	5001		4001	Delphi Roady2 XM Satellite Radio	1001	Xbox System & 5 Games
Vermont Avenue	753	$100	104	$1,000	254	$1,000	804	$500	3604	$500	5004		4004	Xbox Video Game System Package	1004	Samsung Portable DVD Player
Virginia Avenue	757	$200 SpaWish.com Gift Certificate	108	$2,000	258	$2,000	808	$1,000	3608	$1,000	5008		4008	Rio Forge 256MB Sport MP3 Player	1008	Canon Digital Elph Camera & Photo Printer
Tennessee Avenue	759	$1,000	110	$5,000	260	$5,000	810	$5,000	3987	$1,500	5010		4010	Cingular Wireless Service/Sony Ericsson Phone	1010	Bose 3-2-1 DVD Home Entertainment System
Kentucky Avenue	761	Beaches Resorts Vacation	112	$10,000	262	$10,000	812	$10,000	3612	$5,000	5012		4012	Gary Fischer Performance Bike & Garmin GPS System	1012	Samsung ab20 Wireless Camera Phone
Ventnor Avenue	765	$25,000	116	$25,000	266	$25,000	816	$25,000	3616	$10,000	5016		4016	Canon Elura 70 Camcorder & Compact Photo Printer	1016	Sony Vaio Computer & Clie Handheld
Pennsylvania Avenue	769	$50,000	120	$50,000	270	$50,000	820	$50,000	3620	$50,000	5020		4020	Toshiba HD LCD TV & Home Theater System	1020	Samsung Plasma Digital TV
Boardwalk	771	$1,000,000 (annuity)	122	$1,000,000 (annuity)	274	$1,000,000 (annuity)	822	$1,000,000 (annuity)	3622	$1,000,000 (annuity)	5022	$1,000,000 (annuity)	4022	$1,000,000 (annuity)	1022	$1,000,000 (annuity)
Short Line	775	EA SPORTS Trip	126	$500	278	$500	826	$5,000,000 (annuity)	5026	Dodge viper	4026	OARS Whitewater Adventure Trip	1026	OARS Whitewater Adventure Trip

Note that the rare piece is alphabetically the last property in each group, except for Boardwalk, which is the last piece on the board.

[*] McDonald's added Golden Avenue and Arches Avenue in 2008; the prize for obtaining both was $100,000. In 2009 and 2010, the promotion did not feature these properties.

[**] Until 2007, Mediterranean and Baltic avenues were dark purple properties on the traditional Monopoly board; the color change to brown in 2008 reflects the new layout of the standard US Edition Monopoly board.

UK

The UK version of the rare piece list is as follows:

Mayfair
Bond Street
Coventry Street
Strand
Marlborough Street
Northumberland Avenue
Euston Road
Old Kent Road
Liverpool St. Station

Note: Daltof Corner and Connolly Place were removed from this page as they do not exist in the UK version.

This is contrary to the mcdonalds.co.uk site, which gives a "rare" list that incorrectly includes the common Pentonville Road.

Germany

The German version of the rare piece list is as follows:

Property	2009 code	2009 prize	2009 number awarded
Jackpot	???	1 each of the below + 1 each of the instant win prizes.	1x	0 property	1 instant
Turmstrasse	902	Monopoly Game set.	1000x	340 property	660 instant
Elisenstrasse & Poststrasse	904 & 905	€1,000 Prepaid Visa Card	1000x	950 property	50 instant
Hafenstrasse	907	LG Netbook	500x	170 property	330 instant
Wienerstrasse & Berlinerstrasse	910 & 911	Audi A3 Cabriolet	100x	90 property	10 instant
Museumstrasse	913	Nintendo Wii with Avatar the game	777x	259 property	518 instant
Schillerstrasse	916	MSC cruise for two	5x	2 property	3 instant
Hauptstrasse	919	ETI dream vacation to Egypt	100x	34 property	66 instant
Parkstrasse	921	Hercules Mountain Bike	100x	34 property	66 instant
Südbahnhof & Westbahnhof	932 & 924	€100,000 from Visa	10x	10 property	0 instant

In addition to the property pieces, there are also Instant Win pieces for a Samsung MP3 player, a LG Touchscreen cellphone, €150 gift certificates to S.Oliver, a JBL iPod dock, a Funai Flatscreen television, Nikon digital camera, Noxon internet radio, and SnowTrex one-week ski vacation for two.

Online games

In 2004, McDonald's introduced an online counterpart to its traditional game. In addition to the traditional "sticker" game, participants can play online. Each game piece lists a code which can be entered online, to a maximum of 10 entries per 24 hours. Each code entered grants the user one roll on a virtual Monopoly game board, identical to the board game's board. Rolling "doubles" (two dice sharing the same number), as with the real board game, allows the user to move again.

Landing on Electric Company, Income Tax, Jail/Just Visiting, Go to Jail, Water Works, or Luxury Tax does not count towards any prize. If a player lands on an unowned property (not landed upon by the player in a previous turn), the user will "collect" that property. When all properties of a colored set are collected, the user wins a prize, with prize values similar to those of the sticker game. In addition to collecting property sets, users can also win by landing on certain "instant win" spaces, including Go, Chance, Community Chest, and Free Parking. Landing on Go (but not simply passing it) gives the player a code worth one free hour of WiFi access at participating McDonald's restaurants. Landing on Chance is worth money to spend at Foot Locker. Landing on Community Chest allows the user to be given a code worth 25 My Coke Rewards points. Landing on Free Parking is a prize of a $50 refillable gas card from Shell, or alternatively 25 complimentary apple pies.

In 2007, landing on Community Chest won game downloads.^[9]

In 2009, the prizes became two hours of WiFi and a $25 Arch Card for landing on Go, an entry into an online roll for $1,000,000 (annuity) for landing on Chance, 25 My Coke Rewards points for landing on Community Chest, and a $50 refillable Shell gift card for landing on Free Parking.

The values of the dice are not random. As stated in the contest rules, one property in each set is "rare," similar to the sticker game. These rare properties are landed on only when the game server "seeds" a winning roll. Winning rolls are seeded at specific times on specific dates, and the first user to roll the dice once a win has been seeded will land on a winning piece. This allows McDonald's to declare the odds of winning certain prizes, a legal requirement for contests in most jurisdictions.

In 2010, the online game was changed, removing the dice and the game board, presenting only 3 Chance cards from which to pick. One has a prize, starting at 30 My Coke Rewards points, but may be (non-randomly) seeded with a higher-valued prize. Player chooses one card, is asked if that is the choice the player wants to make, and the card is flipped. If it is the pre-selected winning card, player wins the pre-selected prize. Odds of winning: Based on time you enter code not the card you choose.

Restrictions

While the giveaway is essentially identical in each country where it is available, game pieces collected in one country cannot be used in another country.

For all versions of the online game, players are allowed to enter 10 codes per day.

Note that the official rules state: "The purchase, sale, trading, or barter of Game Pieces, Game Stamps, FREE Codes or Game Codes via Online or live auctions, or any other methods, does not constitute Legitimate Channels and is expressly prohibited."^[10]

Popular culture

In 2010, a group of University of Michigan students began blogging about their quest to win at McDonald's Monopoly in a blog called McDonaldopoly. They have been tracking stats and aim to determine the most profitable items, while testing McDonald's claims that "1 in 4 wins"^[11] on a large sample size. They are further investigating the odds breakdown on various items to determine if higher cost items have a greater chance of winning.^{[citation needed]} The students plan to perform a Six Sigma analysis once more data is collected.^{[citation needed]} This project gained popularity in Ann Arbor, Michigan after being mentioned in University of Michigan's student run satirical newspaper, The Every Three Weekly.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b FBI arrests 8 in fraud scheme targeting McDonald's game, CNN, 21 August 2001.
^ Associated Press. Twenty-one indicted in McDonald's scam, St. Petersburg Times, 11 September 2001.
^ McDonald's to Pay Simon $16.6 Million Settlement
^ Donor Turns Fast Food Into Big Bucks For Hospital, The New York Times.
^ St. Judes' Mystery Million Came From Embezzler, CNN transcript, 10 September 2001.
^ http://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly09/front.do
^ http://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly09ca/front.do?lang=en
^ http://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly08/info.do?pg=rules&gf=t
^ http://www.bizzia.com/behindthebuzz/monopoly-at-mcdonalds/
^ http://www.playatmcd.com/Official-Rules.aspx
^ http://www.playatmcd.com/Official-Rules.aspx#section13

External links

[cnn-1] FBI arrests 8 in fraud scheme targeting McDonald's game, CNN, 21 August 2001.

[2] Associated Press. Twenty-one indicted in McDonald's scam, St. Petersburg Times, 11 September 2001.

[3] McDonald's to Pay Simon $16.6 Million Settlement

[4] Donor Turns Fast Food Into Big Bucks For Hospital, The New York Times.

[5] St. Judes' Mystery Million Came From Embezzler, CNN transcript, 10 September 2001.

[Official_Rules,_US-6] ttp://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly09/front.do

[Official_Rules,_CA-7] ttp://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly09ca/front.do?lang=en

[Official_Rules-8] ttp://monopoly.promotions.com/monopoly08/info.do?pg=rules&gf=t

[9] ttp://www.bizzia.com/behindthebuzz/monopoly-at-mcdonalds/

[10] ttp://www.playatmcd.com/Official-Rules.aspx

[11] ttp://www.playatmcd.com/Official-Rules.aspx#section13

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

@@ Line 187: / Line 187: @@
 In addition to the property pieces, there are also Instant Win pieces for a Samsung MP3 player, a LG Touchscreen cellphone, €150 gift certificates to S.Oliver, a JBL iPod dock, a Funai Flatscreen television, Nikon digital camera, Noxon internet radio, and SnowTrex one-week ski vacation for two.
-Online games
+'''Online games'''
 In 2004, McDonald's introduced an [http://www.playatmcd.com online counterpart] to its traditional game. In addition to the traditional "sticker" game, participants can play online. Each game piece lists a code which can be entered online, to a maximum of 10 entries per 24 hours. Each code entered grants the user one roll on a virtual Monopoly game board, identical to the board game's board. Rolling "doubles" (two dice sharing the same number), as with the real board game, allows the user to move again.