McDonald's Monopoly

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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 prizes are given away. McDonald's had a relationship with Simon Worldwide Inc., which was responsible for the distribution of the contest pieces and the awarding 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 had been hired by McDonald's to organize and promote the game, failed to recognize a flaw in its procedures; Chief of security Jerome P. Jacobson was able to remove the most valuable 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. While the fraud appeared to have been perpetrated 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. 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. Due to a procedural technicality, four of those convicted of the fraud were later released as they were not initially charged with the offense.

In 1995, St. Jude 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. Investigations later indicated that Jacobson had admitted to sending the winning piece to the hospital.

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, and the Electric Company and Water Works utilities which were added in the 2014 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 top prize ($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. The 2001 edition was titled Pick Your Prize!, in which winners could choose which of three ways they wanted their prize awarded to them (i.e. they could choose if they wanted their $1 million in cash, gold, or diamonds; etc.). The 2016 edition, called Money Monopoly, has all its prizes in cash, including the $1 million for Park Place and Boardwalk.

Coupon pieces

Additionally, in the 2005 edition, certain foods always came with one card which could be used at either Best Buy, Wal-Mart, or Target (including online stores). The value of each card was random, with Wal-Mart gift cards ranging from $1 to $5; up to $5 in cards could be used in a single transaction.

Products with game pieces

In 2013, the following products featured game tokens:

USA
Big Mac
Chicken McNuggets (10 pc. or 20 pc.)
Filet-O-Fish
Large French Fries
Medium & Large McCafe Beverages (Iced Or Blended)
Medium Soft Drink Cups
McMuffin Sandwiches (Egg/Egg White Delight/Sausage with Egg)
Hashbrowns
Oatmeal
Premium McWrap

Law requires that game pieces be available upon request without any purchase necessary, and can be requested by the mailing of a handwritten, self-addressed stamped envelope.

US And Canada

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

Property	2013 code	2013 prize	2012 code	2012 prize	2011 code	2011 prize	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
Mediterranean Avenue	431	$1,000	925	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards)	321	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards)	750	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards)	101	$50 (Paid in McDonald's Gift Cards) 51	$100	801	$50	$360	$50	$500	iTunes card	$400	576	Wal-Mart Card
Vermont Avenue	434	$5,000	928	$5,000	324	An Xbox 360	753	A Dodge Challenger	104	$700	254	1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS	804	A Chrysler Pacifica	3604	A Gift certificate to Gameworks	5004	Free French Fries	4004	Free Quarter Pounder With Cheese
Virginia Avenue	438	$10,000	932	Disneyland Resort Vacation	328	2 Galaxy Theater Movie Tickets	757	A GameStop Gift Card	108	Wal-Mart Card	258	A Gift Certificate to Bass Pro Shop	808	Free Vanilla Shake	3608	A Gift Card To Barnes & Noble	5008	2 Anaheim Ducks Tickets To The Honda Center	4008	A Ford F-150
Tennessee Avenue	440	Any EA Sports Video Game	934	$10,000	330	Disneyland Resort Vacation	759	$1,000	110	$5,000	260	$5,000	810	$5,000	3610	$1,500	5010	Wal-Mart Card	4010	A New Verizon IPhone
Kentucky Avenue	442	Any Alaska Airlines Destination for 2	936	Any Alaska Airlines Destination for 2	332	$50,000	761	Disneyland Resort Vacation	112	$10,000	262	$10,000	812	$10,000	3612	$5,000	5012	100 million Best Buy Card	4012	A Dodge Ram
Ventnor Avenue	446	$20,000	940	$20,000	336	$100,000	765	$25,000	116	$25,000	266	$25,000	816	$25,000	3616	$10,000	5016	Trip to Universal Hollywood	4016	A Dell Laptop
Pennsylvania Avenue	450	Any Ford vehicle	944	Any Chevrolet vehicle	340	Any Nissan vehicle	769	$50,000	120	$50,000	270	$50,000	820	$50,000	3620	$50,000	5020	A Trip for 2 Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, OH	4020	Gift card to Home Depot
Boardwalk	452	$1,000,000	946	$1,000,000	342	$1,000,000	771	$1,000,000	122	$1,000,000	274	$1,000,000	822	$1,000,000	3622	$1,000,000	5022	$1,000,000	4022	$1,000,000
Short Line	456	Shell Fuel for 1 Year	950	An EA SPORTS Video Game	346	An EA SPORTS Video Game	775	An EA SPORTS Video Game	126	$500	278	$500	826	$5,000,000	3626	A BMW ZR1 Corvette	5026	Any Dodge Viper	4026	Seaworld Adventure Trip
Golden Avenue	873	Tickets to the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, WA	534	2 Tickets to a Seattle Mariners Game at T-Mobile Park	543	Free McFlurry	987	2 Tickets Woodland Park Zoo	823	Gift Card For Office Depot	271	$100,000	734	A Shopping Spree to Costco	734	Free Routes By King County Metro	954	2019 Honda Odyssey	965	A Trip Around The World

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

Until 2007, Mediterranean and Baltic avenues were dark purple properties on the traditional Monopoly board; the color changed to brown in 2008.

McDonald's added Golden Avenue and Arches Avenue for 2008 only; the prize for obtaining both was $100,000.

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.

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.

In 2011, the game was changed again – the mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags (aka "Mr. Monopoly"), is shown attempting to throw a Chance card into a top hat. If the card lands in the hat, the player can claim a prize. Players must choose a "throwing style", which only changes the animations used – it does nothing to affect one's odds of winning.

In 2012, the game was changed once more. Players must click on "Spin" first, and if it landed on "GO!", the player wins the online prize shown. Similarly as of 2013 players must click on "Play", and if it results in a win, the online prize is shown onscreen; regardless of the outcome, the participant receives an entry to win a 2013 Fiat 500 Cabrio.

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 restricted to a set number of online entries per day. In the UK, this is restricted to 24 entries. In the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico, 10.

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." This includes eBay as it is a violation of their lottery policy.