McDonald's Money Monopoly - No Purchase Necessary

'No Purchase Necessary' Every so often companies such as McDonald's use promotional games to increase their sales and increase profits. The promotions attract customers from their competitors and encourage existing customers to buy more in order to increase their chances of winning a prize.

In many countries (such as the UK) ,these games must satisfy certain legal conditions including the ability for those not wishing to buy a product to be able to play the game and have an equal chance of winning. These 'no purchase necessary' games are very common but few people are aware that they don't need to buy anything to enter.

Companies like McDonald's satisfy the word of the law but break it in spirit by making it difficult for people to find out that they can take part. The words 'no purchase necessary' must be displayed on all adverts referring to the promotional game. This is normally done in very small writing and on TV adverts the words appear only for a very short period of time. Even when people do find out that they can enter, the 'no purchase necessary' rules make it more of a hassle to enter than for those who make a purchase.

McDonald's Money Monopoloy In the case of McDonald's Money Monopoly (currently running in the UK) - to play the game without buying a product you must first collect your gameboard from a participating McDonald's then obtain an 'official no purchase necessary request form' (a postcard) from participating McDonald's and put it in the post (postage is free). In theory you should then be sent a gamepiece (sticker). You are entitled to do this everyday during the promotion, one postcard per day per household.

The chances are that you will never received any gamepieces, in which case the law has been broken. To ensure that such 'no purchase necessary' games are run according to the law of the land, contact your local trading standards official and inform them about the game and ask that they attempt to play the game also. McDonald's can be prosecuted if they fail to play by the rules.

HOW TO PLAY

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

Enter a participating McDonald's store everyday, buy nothing but ask for the 'no purchase necessary request form'.

You may need to argue about your rights and educate the staff about the law regarding such promotions. Contact Trading Standards if they give you any problems.

When you have the form (postcard), fill it in using clear legible writing before mailing it. Remember, you can do this every day while the game is being run.

SEE RULES POSTER IN PARTICIPATING OUTLETS FOR DETAILS. ANY PROBLEMS SHOULD BE REPORTED TO YOUR LOCAL TRADING STANDARDS OFFICER.

Visit the McDonalds Money Monopoly Exchange

Should you be lucky enough to actually win, you might like to consider making a donation to a worthy cause. Don't you think it would be an amusing irony to have McDonald's paying money towards your favourite anti-McDonald's campaigns?

You can significantly increase your chances of getting a full set by co-operating with others. Visit the McDonalds Money Monopoly Exchange to contact other players and exchange game pieces. The Exchange is free to use and is independent of both McDonald's and McSpotlight.