McDonalds Monopoly is a Conspiracy [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 12:25 AM

I've been participating about 10 fuckin years in this promotion and have yet to win anything but a Small McFlurry.... :smack:

I mean really, is this just some trick to get people into your restaurants? I want some fuckin proof there have been winners before I roll by your drive-through again. And a commercial saying "This is our $1,000,000 winner" isn't proof of shit.

So what have you won lately?

friedo

10-31-2008, 12:26 AM

I bet you get mad when you don't win the lottery, too.

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 12:28 AM

I bet you get mad when you don't win the lottery, too.

No... the lottery is highly regulated. I'm not worried about them cheating me.

Miller

10-31-2008, 12:38 AM

I mean really, is this just some trick to get people into your restaurants?

It's taken you ten years to figure that out?

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 12:40 AM

It's taken you ten years to figure that out?

Hahaha... :smack: again.

All right I'm calling Judge Judy

TWDuke

10-31-2008, 12:57 AM

Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

McDonalds Monopoly Conspiracy (http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?5473b36f-6ad4-4107-b043-282032bae207)

Leaper

10-31-2008, 01:09 AM

This reminds me of a question I had: why is McDonalds the only fast food chain that does these big cash game promos? Surely BK and Wendy's have the cover and cash to do it too if they wanted to?

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 01:21 AM

This reminds me of a question I had: why is McDonalds the only fast food chain that does these big cash game promos? Surely BK and Wendy's have the cover and cash to do it too if they wanted to?

Subway's Scrabble promotion just ended but I don't think they were offering anywhere near what McDonalds says they do. I only went once during that promotion so I have no feedback on them.

Gatopescado

10-31-2008, 01:28 AM

I find it simply amazing how year after year some anonymous philanthropist with a junk-food jones always ends up with Boardwalk, then donates it to some charity. :rolleyes:

Weakest promotion ever! Yet it works like a charm every time! Check out "wanted" on Craiglist. Everybody wants to trade you an extra Park Place for your extra Boardwalk. :D

P.T. Barnum was right on the money.

Don't fight the hypothetical

10-31-2008, 01:32 AM

mhendo

10-31-2008, 01:36 AM

I find it simply amazing how year after year some anonymous philanthropist with a junk-food jones always ends up with Boardwalk, then donates it to some charity. :rolleyes:Really? Does that happen?

I would have thought that there would be some legal requirement for the company to prove that the competition was genuine.

ShermanAter

10-31-2008, 01:36 AM

It's all worth it when they sell the McRib sangwich 4 weeks every year.
MMMMMMMMM...McRib sangwiches...
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM ad infinitum

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 01:37 AM

You must be double fucked. I keep winning cokes and burgers and fries to keep me playing.

10 years?
I have some swampland in Florida...

They do it every year for about a month. During this promotion I have to force myself to eat BigMac's, Large Fries, HashBrowns, and Large Soda's... since those are the only items with game pieces.

Wait, what are they trying to do, make everyone fat?

Justin_Bailey

10-31-2008, 01:40 AM

I played a lot a few years ago and came away with almost as much as free food as food I bought. Never won a real prize though.

Agent Foxtrot

10-31-2008, 01:42 AM

What? You haven't found Boardwalk yet? I'll fly over in my private jet to give you my extra.

ParentalAdvisory

10-31-2008, 02:09 AM

Legit? (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=18586270)

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 02:31 AM

Legit? (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=18586270)

Then what you find out later is she was a manager working with the company 30 years paid to do the skit.

How come I'm not hearing stories of these people winning all these "daily" $100,000 prizes, and so on...

They stage this crap and the vast majority come flocking into their stores. I want proof. I want a video with some college kids throwing around a wad of hundreds praising McDonalds. You know, something like that.

papaw

10-31-2008, 02:44 AM

I want to know why you are eating at Mickey D's when ( in my opinion) there are always much better choices?

ETA- I did eat lunch at McDonalds yesterday. Had no better choice at the time.

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 02:55 AM

I want to know why you are eating at Mickey D's when ( in my opinion) there are always much better choices?

ETA- I did eat lunch at McDonalds yesterday. Had no better choice at the time.

I eat EVERYWHERE. I've been to nearly every restaurant on the island. McD's is at the bottom of my hill (or I can go to Booger King a little more down the road) so it's quick and cheap. I'm not very picky. And I always have a chance to win $1,000,000. And by "$1,000,000" I mean "Small McFlurry"...

Rhythmdvl

10-31-2008, 03:11 AM

Wow, it's been a few years since I've eaten at McDonalds. What's the Monopoly game like? I have nostalgic memories from childhood (seventies and eighties or so), with fold-out boards, game pieces with adhesive on them to stick on the board, big piles of gold coins as prizes....

Might be worth a trip.

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 04:59 AM

Bill Door

10-31-2008, 07:36 AM

Navin R. Johnson: [bleakly] I've already given away eight pencils, two hoola dolls, and an ashtray, and I've only taken in fifteen dollars.

Frosty: Navin, you have taken in fifteen dollars and given away fifty cents worth of crap, which gives us a net profit of fourteen dollars and fifty cents.

Navin R. Johnson: Ah... It's a profit deal. Takes the pressure off. Get your weight guessed right here! Only a buck! Actual live weight guessing! Take a chance and win some crap!

neutron star

10-31-2008, 07:53 AM

It's all worth it when they sell the McRib sangwich 4 weeks every year.
MMMMMMMMM...McRib sangwiches...
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM ad infinitum
Really? I haven't seen McRibs in about five years! There are McDonald's restaurants still selling those things? Where are they, and more importantly, are they selling leftover sandwiches from five years ago?

Zsofia

10-31-2008, 08:31 AM

How would you know?

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper? Has anybody known or heard of anybody who has?

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 08:36 AM

How would you know?

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper? Has anybody known or heard of anybody who has?

Never...

And I've never won anything from them either...

As for the "twist-off" drink games I think I've won a 2 liter Coke once!

DudleyGarrett

10-31-2008, 08:36 AM

I just can't shake the anticipation when I turn over my fry box only to find two unpeeled Monopoly tabs. The same for the soda cups.

Color me owned.

Anaamika

10-31-2008, 08:36 AM

Hey, the Monopoly game is fun at least. Stuff to do!

DudleyGarrett

10-31-2008, 08:38 AM

How would you know?

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper? Has anybody known or heard of anybody who has?

Look at all the stuff that Lazlo won at the end of Real Genius. It can happen!

silenus

10-31-2008, 09:02 AM

I hit McD's several times a week for breakfast when they run Monopoly. So far this year I have won: 2 McFlurries, 3 "Any beef sandwich," and a couple of other food prizes I don't remember right now. I've never won any cash, but I usually do pretty well on scoring more junk food.

Dante

10-31-2008, 09:02 AM

Look at all the stuff that Lazlo won at the end of Real Genius. It can happen! It did happen. (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Caltech_Sweepstakes_Caper/)

Jack Batty

10-31-2008, 09:02 AM

Look at all the stuff that Lazlo won at the end of Real Genius. It can happen!

You'll notice, however, that he won an appreciably lower percentage of prizes than he calculated for.

Scam!

Ludovic

10-31-2008, 09:02 AM

3 "Any beef sandwich,"too bad you can't use those at McDonalds....::::d+r:::::

ZipperJJ

10-31-2008, 09:05 AM

How would you know?

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper? Has anybody known or heard of anybody who has?

Not a candy bar wrapper but my friend did win a trip to the world series (1996?) from a Nestea can. He won the trip for him and a few friends as well as some cash. He bought a gun. :eek:

Lute Skywatcher

10-31-2008, 10:24 AM

I mean really, is this just some trick to get people into your restaurants?All the "good" pieces get sent to restaurants where business is slow.

BlinkingDuck

10-31-2008, 10:31 AM

Really? Does that happen?

I would have thought that there would be some legal requirement for the company to prove that the competition was genuine.

Back in the 80's when I was working through college I worked at a Coca Cola plant in a rural type area. They used to have promotions all the time...free bikes, motorcycles, cars money etc.

It was all rigged. ALL. I don't suspect, I know since I was brought in on some of it.

A car given away? It goes to the nephew of the owner of a grocery store in town...who then runs sales on Coca Cola....etc etc etc. It made me sick.

The only time a car was given away legit was when someone from the state showed up at a drawing and was watching the owner closely...and he was so flustered he didn't cheat and drew a legit entry.

Since then, I am cynical and expect that all major giveaways (say more than $1000 value) are rigged.

freekalette

10-31-2008, 10:31 AM

My husband won a PlayStation Portable from the McDonald's Monopoly game, back when the PSP first came out.

Neither of us have won anything other than hashbrowns before or since.

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 10:32 AM

atomicbadgerrace

10-31-2008, 10:45 AM

Or their rebuttal in court is "Oh shux, maybe all of the worthy game pieces ended up in the trash?... I wish you all better luck next time around. How about some free McFlurries for your trouble?"

I mean, it is possible. I don't peel the damn things, I toss them. And considering how much McDonald's I consume in a week, you can imagine how batshit-insane this drives my co-workers who really care.

"But you could have a Boardwalk on that!!!"

Yeah, and a million bucks could suddenly fly out of my ass, too.

ShadowFacts

10-31-2008, 10:52 AM

Look at all the stuff that Lazlo won at the end of Real Genius. It can happen!

Actually that was the Frito-Lay sweepstakes ("no purchase necessary, enter as often as you like...so I am"), not a candy bar.

friedo

10-31-2008, 11:06 AM

Any beef sandwich

Wait a minute. Which beef is the "any" beef?

Cervaise

10-31-2008, 11:13 AM

Hey, the Monopoly game is fun at least. Stuff to do!If I want an activity, I prefer the "light the oily rag and drop it in the trash in the bathroom" game.

Santo Rugger

10-31-2008, 11:18 AM

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper?Duh! :rolleyes:

Haven't you ever seen Willy Wonka?

:p

E-Sabbath

10-31-2008, 11:43 AM

Look at all the stuff that Lazlo won at the end of Real Genius. It can happen!

Based on a true story. It's why they don't allow computer facimilies of entry forms anymore.

Harriet the Spry

10-31-2008, 11:49 AM

I've definitely won free "food" from it. And in the early '90s, homeless people in New Orleans seemed to be sustaining themselves on proceeds from the contest.

neutron star

10-31-2008, 11:54 AM

Never...

And I've never won anything from them either...

As for the "twist-off" drink games I think I've won a 2 liter Coke once!I won $30 from a 20 ounce Coke once. The odds were 1 in 100,000. They sent me an ATM card-type-thing to get the cash.

kingpengvin

10-31-2008, 12:04 PM

Wait a minute. Which beef is the "any" beef?

The fillet o fish.

MovieMogul

10-31-2008, 12:10 PM

As for the "twist-off" drink games I think I've won a 2 liter Coke once!Bah, but now they don't announce you're a winner--they give you some freakin code that I have to enter into their website, which I have to register with first and...there the cap goes into the trash.

Pullet

10-31-2008, 12:14 PM

A classmate of mine in high school won a new Jeep from the first McDonald's Monopoly. And that was in Hawaii, too.

EpicNonsense, maybe you should frequent the McD's over at Windward Mall.

pbbth

10-31-2008, 12:16 PM

levdrakon

10-31-2008, 12:17 PM

One time I opened a bottle of Mountain Dew and got "you're a winner!" on the inside cap. I called the number and heard, "this promotion ended two months ago."

I always wondered what I would have won, and whether they deliberately send out the winning bottles after the contest is over.

Chronos

10-31-2008, 12:31 PM

What I want to know is, has anybody ever in the history of time won anything from a candy bar wrapper? Has anybody known or heard of anybody who has?I once managed to spell out the prize word (including the rare letter) from the wrappers of M&M/Mars candy bars in my Halloween candy. But it was a couple of months after the fact that I got the last one, and all of those packages were gone from the stores by then, so I didn't know what I would have won or how to claim whatever it was.

gazpacho

10-31-2008, 12:33 PM

A selection of winners culled from the news.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/how-i-won-1-million-by-eating-breakfast,569532.shtml
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16998543.html
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16890765.html

Atrael

10-31-2008, 12:58 PM

I decided that this is the last year I'm really going to play. It's not worth it to go out of my way to get the morning hash brown (best deal, 2 hashbrowns for $1 which gets you 4 game pieces) order and try to eat lunch there. Especially as the menu selection is pretty piss poor this year. It's not like I really expect to win the million, it's more that I've never hit any of the other prizes either. What, you can't throw me a Short Line or a Vermont Avenue?

Although I can buy all the crappy Foot Locker stuff I want with a 25% discount.

Dripping

10-31-2008, 01:05 PM

I have to force myself to eat BigMac's, Large Fries, HashBrowns, and Large Soda's... since those are the only items with game pieces.Can I ask you something? What was the thought process going on in your head that made you use an apostrophe to indicate the plural in BigMacs and Sodas, but not in Fries, Hashbrowns, items or pieces? :confused:

Black Sunshine

10-31-2008, 01:36 PM

FWIW all of the donations to charities for big companies are kind of scams too. They set up a specific amount they are going to donate no matter how many box tops/yogurt lids/points off the back of a package get sent in and then they advertise that they will donate "up to $X,XXX" based on the number of stuff they receive back from consumers. There is no need to buy something you don't really want because it will support breast cancer or the boys and girls club of america or anything. They get all the money whether or not you spend a dime.

That's always been my suspicion. It seems like an asshole thing for Company X to say, "Gee, we've got a spare $100,000 to donate to prevent cancer in retarded baby dolphins but we only got $2,500 worth of lids. Guess we'll just throw the rest out!"

gazpacho

10-31-2008, 02:06 PM

That's always been my suspicion. It seems like an asshole thing for Company X to say, "Gee, we've got a spare $100,000 to donate to prevent cancer in retarded baby dolphins but we only got $2,500 worth of lids. Guess we'll just throw the rest out!"I wonder how much money was spent on postage and envelopes that could have been used for something useful but was instead used to mail trash to yoplait.

Satchmo

10-31-2008, 02:50 PM

I have heard that when an employee gets the winning piece, (and so can't collect it themselves), they will often donate it to charity so that McDonalds doesn't get to keep it. Anyone else heard that before or know if it's true. Does that make sense?
Thanks!

JSexton

10-31-2008, 05:14 PM

iamthewalrus(:3=

10-31-2008, 05:20 PM

Where are they, and more importantly, are they selling leftover sandwiches from five years ago?There's really no way to tell.

Tamex

10-31-2008, 08:13 PM

I won one free hour of WiFi at McDonald's by entering the codes on the pieces into their website and landing on Free Parking.

It would be a better gift if I didn't have to use it by 1/17/09. A free hour of WiFi would be quite useful on, say, a summer road trip. I'm not sure when I'll just happen to be hanging around McDonald's with my laptop this time of year.

EpicNonsense

10-31-2008, 09:09 PM

Can I ask you something? What was the thought process going on in your head that made you use an apostrophe to indicate the plural in BigMacs and Sodas, but not in Fries, Hashbrowns, items or pieces? :confused:

Thought process, none. I usually don't worry about my punctuation.

As for correcting myself, I now feel like an idiot because I can't think of how I'd do it.

Glad you noticed! :smack: (this is now the 3rd time I've smacked myself in this thread. Ooh Ra!)

rolandgunslinger

10-31-2008, 09:15 PM

I won 200 dollars from a Mountain Dew twist off cap two years ago. :D

Take that ya fucking sore losers.;)

jhinman

11-01-2008, 12:18 PM

I eat EVERYWHERE. I've been to nearly every restaurant on the island. McD's is at the bottom of my hill (or I can go to Booger King a little more down the road) so it's quick and cheap. I'm not very picky. And I always have a chance to win $1,000,000. And by "$1,000,000" I mean "Small McFlurry"...

SLightly off topic, do all McD's in Honolulu serve the fresh Pineapple with there Meal deals or is just the ones in the Tourist areas. That was such a pleasent suprise when I was there 2 years ago.

Lute Skywatcher

11-01-2008, 12:44 PM

All the "good" pieces get sent to restaurants where business is slow.Or their rebuttal in court is "Oh shux, maybe all of the worthy game pieces ended up in the trash?... I wish you all better luck next time around. How about some free McFlurries for your trouble?"No, really. McDonald's Monopoly is a ploy to increase business at restaurants where sales are down; they do this by sending the "good" pieces to those restaurants. Except for the one game that existed solely to act as a sting operation in order to net those who had been stealing 'em.

SmackFu

11-01-2008, 06:57 PM

If you say it twice, is that supposed to make it twice as believable? Because I don't think it's working.

Tamex

11-01-2008, 06:59 PM

How do they know which are the good pieces? Are the cups/wrappers marked? And how can we find out which restaurants aren't doing as well so we can throw some business their way?

Lute Skywatcher

11-01-2008, 07:42 PM

How do they know which are the good pieces?Simon Marketing, which distributes the pieces, does. That's how Jerome Jacobson was able to reroute winning pieces. (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/08/21/monopoly.arrests/index.html)

missouri65

11-02-2008, 11:16 AM

I wonder how much money was spent on postage and envelopes that could have been used for something useful but was instead used to mail trash to yoplait.

I bought some "pink" Pepsi last week. After I finished the last bottle, I looked at the wrapper to see how the donation would work. Apparently, Pepsi donates 25 cents for every wrapper mailed in. This means that I would have to pay at least 41 cents (for the stamp, assuming it wasn't so heavy it costs more) to get Pepsi to make a 25 cent donation. Who comes up with this stuff?

Albrecht Durer

11-02-2008, 11:52 AM

I bought some "pink" Pepsi last week. After I finished the last bottle, I looked at the wrapper to see how the donation would work. Apparently, Pepsi donates 25 cents for every wrapper mailed in. This means that I would have to pay at least 41 cents (for the stamp, assuming it wasn't so heavy it costs more) to get Pepsi to make a 25 cent donation. Who comes up with this stuff?

Pink Pepsi! Brought to you by Pepsi and the United States Postal Service.

Gleena

11-04-2008, 04:30 AM

I won the trip to Disneyland the second or third year, back in the early 90s. It was legit then, at least.

It was really nice, too.

I was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time. Got the winning pieces, called the store, they gave me a 1800 number, called McDonald's headquarters, they had me send them the pieces in an insured overnight envelope, guy called me back the next day and congrats. Easy as that.

We went over a variety of dates and I picked the ones I wanted, filled out some forms and sent them back (permission to use my name and image in future advertising, they weren't responsible if anything horrible happened, standard stuff like that), then I did four days in Disneyland with my friend (who was with me when I bought the Diet Coke I got the ticket off of, and since she also had a Diet Coke it could just as easily have been her, so we decided we'd both go), we did a few promotional photos and had a good time.

Nice, nice hotel, nice trip, all I paid for was souveniers and one meal...breakfast? dinner? I can't remember now (we paid for alcohol, oh yes we did...) Someone met us there from McDonald's and arranged for a time to take the pictures, someone called us every day we were there to make sure we were having a good time, it was really a very good experience.

Anyway, it was heaps of fun.

Cheers,
G

Tamex

11-04-2008, 06:58 AM

I bought some "pink" Pepsi last week. After I finished the last bottle, I looked at the wrapper to see how the donation would work. Apparently, Pepsi donates 25 cents for every wrapper mailed in. This means that I would have to pay at least 41 cents (for the stamp, assuming it wasn't so heavy it costs more) to get Pepsi to make a 25 cent donation. Who comes up with this stuff?

Presumably, you would mail in more than one wrapper at a time.

EpicNonsense

11-04-2008, 07:31 AM

SLightly off topic, do all McD's in Honolulu serve the fresh Pineapple with there Meal deals or is just the ones in the Tourist areas. That was such a pleasent suprise when I was there 2 years ago.

No meals that I have ordered... I'm not even sure if they still have pineapple juice, actually. I'll go there this morning and look. I'll let you know what I come by.

Dead Cat

11-04-2008, 07:38 AM

I mean, it is possible. I don't peel the damn things, I toss them. And considering how much McDonald's I consume in a week, you can imagine how batshit-insane this drives my co-workers who really care.

"But you could have a Boardwalk on that!!!"

Yeah, and a million bucks could suddenly fly out of my ass, too.Well no wonder nobody wins - some fool over there is throwing all the winning tickets away! :)

Eliahna

11-04-2008, 08:14 AM

I won a skateboard from a Paddle Pop Lick-A-Prize (http://www.paddlepop.com.au/) competition once.

No actual paddling of anyone's pop necessary.

gazpacho

11-04-2008, 09:53 AM

Presumably, you would mail in more than one wrapper at a time.That helps but you are still just mailing trash to Pepsi. Pepsi already has a pretty good idea of how many pink Pepsi's sold.

Heffalump and Roo

11-04-2008, 11:18 AM

As for correcting myself, I now feel like an idiot because I can't think of how I'd do it.

I read to educate myself, not for entertainment. I've not once read an entire book based on a story. None that I recall at least. Though I have seen well over a thousand movies. It's just boring to me, but maybe it's because I'm too lazy. Wait, that wouldn't make sense.
(from IMHO)

So this is where reading some books could help. That non-paragraph rant (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10391538&postcount=1) you wrote was atrocious.

Well, heck. . . it sure couldn't hurt.

EpicNonsense

11-04-2008, 11:51 AM

(from IMHO)

So this is where reading some books could help. That non-paragraph rant (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10391538&postcount=1) you wrote was atrocious.

Well, heck. . . it sure couldn't hurt.

There is more than enough reading material here to keep me busy.

Heffalump and Roo

11-04-2008, 12:03 PM

There is more than enough reading material here to keep me busy.
Err, you're learning how to write from a message board?

You might want to watch out for certain posters who may not be the best to emulate.
I sick of ralph124c and his stupidity. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=486176)
People say there are a few in the linked thread.

I'm hoping by "here", you meant the message board and not this thread.

EpicNonsense

11-04-2008, 12:17 PM

Err, you're learning how to write from a message board?

You might want to watch out for certain posters who may not be the best to emulate.
I sick of ralph124c and his stupidity. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=486176)
People say there are a few in the linked thread.

I'm hoping by "here", you meant the message board and not this thread.

The message board. I cannot rely on you being the only person who can offer me advice. I have many other flaws you may not recognize.

Smeghead

11-04-2008, 03:18 PM

Did this thread just engage in non-homologous recombination?

Tamex

11-04-2008, 04:45 PM

I thought we were talking about McDonald's. I'm confused. :confused:

Algher

11-04-2008, 05:01 PM

During one of the Coke campaigns someone took the caps off of all of the bottles of Coke at our local grocer...

IvoryTowerDenizen

11-04-2008, 05:54 PM

Did this thread just engage in non-homologous recombination?

That made me laugh! Prophase I, here we come!!!

Darth Nader

11-04-2008, 06:21 PM

Many years ago, a classmate of mine won a shiny new red sports car in a magazine sweepstakes. Upon delivery, she sold it back to the dealership she picked it up at, bought a used jeep, and used the balance to pay for college. I know the details, because a few days later my father ended up buying the now "used" car (with ~30 miles on it) at a huge discount.

We never did figure out who lost money on the deal.

missouri65

11-04-2008, 06:37 PM

Presumably, you would mail in more than one wrapper at a time.

I doubt that was their plan. I used the word wrapper because it was the first word that came to mind. The pink part was on the plastic piece that holds the bottles together, not the paper label on the individual bottle. I guess some people buy multiple 6-packs of tiny bottles of Pepsi in a month, but it's not very cost efficient. Either way, it's still better than the Yoplait. It's gross to send used foil yogurt tops through the mail. If they really want to make people work for it, they could use the same type of online codes they use for promotions--like Pepsi Stuff or Monopoly.

As for the Monopoly, I have maybe a dozen pieces, and six duplicates. My theory has always been that the rare pieces go on the rarely-bought or more expensive items. I'm destined to lose because I only buy drinks.

Pyper

11-04-2008, 06:55 PM

I won a large bag of M&M's from a small bag back when they were doing their white M&M's promotion. I never redeemed it, though. I was rather thrilled just at getting the white M&M's!

GreedySmurf

11-04-2008, 07:46 PM

Simon Marketing, which distributes the pieces, does. That's how Jerome Jacobson was able to reroute winning pieces. (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/08/21/monopoly.arrests/index.html)

Maybe it's just me but did anyone else laugh that one of the people arrested in that scam was

-- Brenda S. Phenis, 50, of Fair Play, South Carolina

:p

Mister Rik

11-04-2008, 08:13 PM

They stage this crap and the vast majority come flocking into their stores. I want proof. I want a video with some college kids throwing around a wad of hundreds praising McDonalds. You know, something like that.

Well if they did that, you can rest assured the group of celebrants would include a white man, a white woman, an Asian, and a biracial man or woman with a half-fro :D

Only thing I ever won in a contest was a CB radio receiver as 7th prize in a "guess the number of bottle caps in this big freakin' jar" thing at some store in a mall. My parents took it away from me because they didn't want me listening to the things truckers say over the CB (I was 10 or so).