Brandi Futch of White House,Tennessee stopped by her local McDonald's and ordered a McChicken sandwich, fries and a sweet tea. Then she walked out winning a great prize: one million dollars. Her winning prize came via the McDonald's MONOPOLY(r) game with both of the coveted game pieces, Board Walk and Park Place, on her cup of Sweet Tea.
As Futch discovered, the MONOPOLY Game at McDonald's made every day a potential $1 million day. For all the fast food critics out there, it looks like McDonald's has food that pays off, even if not for the waistline.
The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sweepstakes advertising promotion of McDonald's and Hasbro that has been a yearly game at McDonald's since 1987. In recent years, Best Buy has been involved in the U.S. version and recently in the Canadian one as well.
It has also gone by various other names including "Monopoly Best Chance Game" (2003-05, the first years of Best Buy's involvement) and "Monopoly/Millionaire Game", a version based on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire TV show.
In the 2009 game, McDonald's customers could also enter codes from their Game Pieces at www.playatmcd.com for a chance to win the opportunity to participate in the "$1 Million Dollar Dice Roll" on NBC network shows such as "The Jay Leno Show" and NBC Sports primetime programming.
In 2001, the U.S. promotion was stopped after fraud was uncovered. A subcontracting company called Simon Marketing, which was hired by McDonald's to organize and promote the game, failed to recognize a flaw in its procedures. The chief of security, Jerome P. Jacobson, was able to remove the "most expensive" game pieces, which he then passed to associates who would redeem them and share the proceeds.
It turned out that almost all of the grand prize and top prize winners over several years, including contests McDonald's held that did not have the Monopoly theme, had been participants in the scheme, netting more than $24 million.
The scheme was eventually 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) contest-winners, awarding five $1 million prizes and fifty $100,000 prizes over a five-day period.
One million dollar winner and McDonald's customer Brandy Futch, 23, works in customer service for the Grand Ole Opry House and will receive $50,000 a year for the next 20 years.
"I'm still in shock," Futch was quoted saying in a McDonald's (MCD) press release. "I haven't decided what I'll do with the money I've won, but I know that a new house and car are on my list." Even with her $1 million prize, Futch said she plans to keep playing the game.
The in-restaurant and daily $1 Million Dollar Dice Roll portions of the MONOPOLY Game at McDonald's have ended, customers can still play online at PlayatMcD.com through November 16th with prizes like the $100,000 Online Jackpot Sweepstakes still up for grabs.
McDonald's Monopoly Integrates with Facebook, Twitter
Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com
sources: McDonalds.com,Chainleader,McSpotlight.com
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