“Pass GO, Collect a Big Mac!”

Source: Maccas Play Official

One of McDonald’s biggest rewards game is making a grand return to Australia, with over $250mil worth of prizes for the taking until October 16th. Starting in the US and Canada in 1987 as a simple fun promotion for the fast food chain, it grew to a massive phenomenon across the globe. Even in a time as early as 2003, the online web game proved a worthy investment for getting consumers hooked on the rewards based program. Chris Hess (VP of McDonald’s ad agency The Marketing Store) told Promo Magazine,

We’ve found that when people play the online Monopoly game, there’s a level of customer engagement that keeps them coming back … They’re quicker to get back into the store and revisit.

It would be a shame not to continue with this tactic, right? That’s why in a world dominated by instant-assistive technology, the game returns as a unique smartphone app users may download to play and win. It is notably convenient as all records of past wins are kept with a registered account.

So how does it all work, you may ask? The official ‘Maccas Play’ website breaks it down for us in a step-by-step process:

1. Earn game tickets by buying any of the selected McDonald’s products in stores. The company ensures a “higher chance of winning” by purchasing medium or large value meals.
2. Peel the physical sticker of your game ticket off the products to uncover three ways to win: instant win, collect to win or a chance card.
3. The scanning of the stickers are big focus of the app, as doing so will unlock a potential for instant redeemable items. These can be stashed or redeemed at selected stores, ranging from free burgers to discounts to even free petrol for a year!

Personally, I think it’s a great way to encourage consumers to start using the app for all McDonald’s related activities. If anything, it only heightens everyone’s awareness of the brand to a greater scale if there’s a constant reminder for it from their phone (as it is over 1.7 million users visit the fast food chain every day). Especially when 136,634,083 tickets have been distributed across all outlets, nearly everyone is guaranteed a likely chance of winning something (despite gambler’s fallacy). This will likely boost the number of visitations within the month’s period!

Source: Tumblr

Even after the promotion ends, it is fair to assume just as many customers will return to McDonalds after associating the brand with such positive memories from the promotion. For instance, Hungry Jacks offers a similar feature all year round where users can shake and redeem discounted or free products at selected outlets. From past experience, I can say the app makes a huge difference in reinforcing the brand in my mind. Every time I pass by a Hungry Jacks outlet, I immediately check the app and shake to see if I have a good deal.

Source: Elizabeth H. Brockway for The Daily Beast

However, some people see this annual event as a cash grab at the nostalgia of the original board game. Recent studies have shown that kids are more vulnerable to junk food advertising, therefore being more susceptible to these app downloads. The disadvantages do not stop there, as McDonald’s and Monopoly have had a twisted history together. There have been cases referring to cop stealing millions from such a rewards game (the story is almost ‘Netflix show’ worthy). This includes other articles surrounding the idea that the program is rigged in the US — and yet we still find ourselves engulfed in a big mac or two, trying the peel our possible fortunes.

So what do you think? Will you take part in the McDonald’s Monopoly fiasco? Let me know in the comments section below!