Smart PR: McDonald’s “$1 Million Dollar Dice Roll”
In partnership with NBC and Hasbro, McDonald’s brings back the MONOPOLY® Game at McDonald’s®, which will give customers the chance to play for huge prizes featuring the daily “$1 Million Dollar Dice Roll” and a $100,000 Online Jackpot Sweepstakes. Other prizes include McDonald’s food, US$50 or US$500 Shell Nitrogen Enriched Gift Cards, Xbox 360® Entertainment Systems, free Boingo® Wi-Fi at more than 11,000 Wi-Fi enabled McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. and My Coke Rewards® Points.
NBC gives McDonald’s a huge PR boost for this campaign, although McDonald’s Corp. “is paying NBC a premium above standard 30-second ad rates to weave their products into the 10 p.m. program, according to Michael Pilot, the network’s head of sales” (via Bloomberg).
According to Douglas Freeland, director of marketing for McDonald’s USA, the MONOPOLY Game at McDonald’s is already a highly anticipated part of pop culture that McDonald’s customers love: “This year is more exciting than ever, with customers getting the chance to win $1 million every day.”
To get the chance to participate in the day “$1 Million Dice Roll” on NBC, McDonald’s customers can enter codes from collected Game Pieces at www.playatmcd.com. Players can watch each dice roll at the same site.
The MONOPOLY Game at McDonald’s is also available through a Facebook application where players can enter codes from their personal Facebook page, but they still have to go to www.playatmcd.com to complete registration. Players can also take their Game play “on the go” by entering Game codes via a text-enabled mobile phone to “96363” but must go online to complete the registration.
The game updates can be followed on Twitter too: @McDonalds.
The Game is available at participating McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. beginning October 6 through November 2, or while supplies last, and online at PlayatMcD.com through November 16. The MONOPOLY Game at McDonald’s is open to residents of the U.S., Canada, Guam and Saipan. The online Game is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. For complete details and official Game rules, visit www.playatmcd.com.
This smart PR campaign will bring McDonald’s massive exposure online (where its official twitter account is now numbering only 1081 followers) via social networks, but also on television – given the daily “$1 Million Dice Roll” on NBC.