McDonald’s may have done something very, very, very bad. At least that’s what fast food enthusiasts are saying after Mickey Dee’s U.K. removed some Monopoly stickers from their meal packaging. Large-sized meals now contain — GASP! — the same amount of stickers as a medium-sized meal.
That’s two stickers versus what used to be three.
The stickers are part of McDonald’s incredibly popular (and apparently polarizing) Monopoly game, which gives thousands of prizes to people who peel back the stickers, revealing all sorts of goodies, like money or cars or free food.
It sort of sounds like an episode of the Oprah show, doesn’t it?
In the Canada and U.S., you can find the peel-off stickers, as of 2018, on several of their food packages: the Big Mac, chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, large fries, and more. This year, they also put peel-off stickers on healthier foods, like the bag of carrots, salads, wraps, and fruit bags. We think this is great.
The issue is, many customers will buy a larger meal so that they can actually get more peel-off stickers.
This system is no longer the case, though — and people just aren’t happy. However, McDonald’s reason for doing this is really responsible, so we can’t complain. The chain removed the “go large” incentive to stop people from unhealthy eating patterns. That’s also why they added the stickers to their healthier options.
Considering the chain was branded as a “danger to public health, we think people should stop complaining. Just look at this tweet:
McDonalds "Monopoly" promotion is a grotesque marketing ploy that encourages people to eat more and more junk food by offering sugar-filled desserts as rewards. It is a danger to public health.https://t.co/8LNbtSD9Sl
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) March 17, 2019
Regardless, the complaints are abundant, no matter that McDonald’s made Monopoly healthier.
For example, some folks just want to be able to trade in their darn stickers.
Does anyone think the McDonald’s monopoly is disappointing this year. Can’t even trade in extras 😫#mcdonalds #Monopoly
— ❣ Lau ❣ (@Lau1191J) March 21, 2019
Someone else didn’t even get any stickers (remember, they’re on select products!), so they went straight to Twitter to bring it up.
Dissapointed a got served at mcdonalds at 12:07 n didnt get any monopoly stickers. @McDonaldsUK
— Lewis Black (@lwsbck) March 20, 2019
Regardless of the blowback, others are actually fine with the fact that the game changed:
“I think I’m the only person that is not bothered about McDonald’s monopoly,” one Twitter user said.
I think I’m the only person that is not bothered about McDonald’s monopoly😳 #Monopoly #McDonalds
— OliviaWhitney (@WhitneyOlivia) March 21, 2019
This Twitter user is just straight-up excited about the prospect of the game.
Except, now she’s gonna have to actually eat a LOT of McDonalds, which, well, probably isn’t the best idea.
You know, for your insides.
People are daydreaming about winning free apple pies, too. If you can’t win a car, a pie is good enough… right?
Tomorrow when I win my first apple pie on McDonalds monopoly pic.twitter.com/tVKdj1p7nv
— Kieran🇮🇱 (@kkirschy23) March 19, 2019
But let’s be real. People want to win the big prizes.
No one really wants a free bag of carrots or an apple pie!
Imagine actually winning 50k or a car on McDonalds monopoly and not a carrot bag?
— Jak Perry (@JakPez) March 20, 2019
Some folks are just straight0up confused about the stickers not actually being stickers. Good point?
Of course, people are just joining in on social to get points (and followers) for chatting about McDonald’s.
But have people actually won any prizes? Apparently, yes — just look at this former employee’s scoop:
Has anyone ever won a #mcdonalds #Monopoly prize??!
— 🇳🇴 (@PK72Oslo) March 18, 2019
People are even coming together via the internet to claim prizes, which we think is actually a pretty cool community-building technique.
You can even play online. This guy just won 10 bucks!
Just won £10 from @McDonalds monopoly! 👌👌 pic.twitter.com/Yck6BEtKEe
— Xinik (@NikBoio) March 22, 2019
Does anyone have Mayfair? This person’s got Park Lane.
Others are getting SERIOUS about their Monopoly game approach. This guy is #winning.
Started McDonalds Monopoly today and keeping track of my P&L, one McChicken Sandwich meal at a cost of £5.11 returned 5 month Now TV Sky Sports Mobile pass at £5.99pm X 5 = £29.95. total cost of meal -£24.84. #winning
— Ashley Lloyd (@AshleyLloyd5) March 20, 2019
A good question: Why isn’t the game called McNopoly? Maybe someone should trademark that.
Monopoly stickers or not, we’re still always down for some McDonald’s fries, though…
The extra prizes are a serious bonus.
