THE MCDONALD’S monopoly launched in the early 1990s, giving customers a chance to win thousands of dollars˳
McDonald’s issued stickers on the side of every food item, with a select few holding the winning ticket spread across the US˳
What was the McDonald’s monopoly?
McDonald’s created its monopoly marketing scheme in 1987 by attaching monopoly stickers to the side of each food item˳
Each sticker featured a monopoly board piece containing prizes on the back, usually for one of McDonald’s beverages or food˳
However, if a customer received three of the same monopoly square, they would win a prize worth up to $1million˳
If it succeeded, the monopoly game would make McDonald’s a substantial profit, prompting customers to buy more food to have a chance of winning the cash prize˳
McDonald’s hired Simon Marketing to carry out the monopoly game and distribute the stickers across the US˳
The primary issue would be ensuring that the monopoly stickers were doled out fairly and carefully, making sure none were taken home with employees or were stolen˳
To achieve this goal, Jerome Jacobson was hired as head of security to oversee the monopoly sticker output˳
Jacobson had previously worked as a Florida police officer but left the force after sustaining a wrist injury on the job˳
He and his wife moved to Georgia where Jacobson intended to pursue a career in security when he was hired for the role with Simon Marketing˳
Jacobson’s role was created to ensure the stickers were doled out fairly and delivered to their correct locations˳
A truck driver who worked for Simon Marketing told Dice Breaker that Jacobson was very strict with the employees˳
He said: “[Jacobson] inspected workers’ shoes to check they weren’t stealing McDonald’s stickers˳”
Did Jerome Jacobson steal from the McDonald’s monopoly?
On the surface, Jacobson was a model employee, but little did Simon Marketing or McDonald’s know that something more was brewing behind the scenes˳
Jacobson’s job was to spread the winning monopoly tickets worth up to $200k and in one instance, $1million, throughout the US, but he found a way to circumvent protocol˳
“I don’t know if I just wanted to show him I could do something,” Jacobson said in court documents obtained by CNBC˳
Jacobson was referring to his brother for whom he stole a monopoly ticket worth $25k in 1989˳
While Jacobson couldn’t claim the lottery money himself, he charged the people he gave the winning stickers a portion of the lottery˳
In several cases, court documents revealed Jacobson had charged $45k in exchange for a $200k lottery ticket for numerous individuals, including his nephew˳
Jacobson utilized his position to steal the winning stickers by creating a supplier error that would send the tickets directly to him˳
He would then go to the bathroom to avoid his auditor and remove the winning stickers from the case and replace them with stickers that weren’t monopoly winners˳
Jacobson replaced the winning tickets with his own stickers that weren’t winners and resealed the case to make it look like it had been untouched˳
Afterward, he and the auditor would continue with the resealed package to the McDonald’s packaging center˳
Jacobson was found to have redistributed 60 winning monopoly stickers and charged between $45k and $50k for each˳
There were about 50 people involved in the scam, according to court documents, including alleged members of the US mafia˳
One of the members included Gennaro Colombo who owned an underground gambling ring and was reportedly a member of The Colombo Crime Family in New York City˳
Colombo met Jacobson through a fellow member of the mafia, named Uncle Dominic in the HBO docuseries McMillion$˳
The pair met in 1995 and Colombo connected Jacobson to a string of recruiters who assisted in passing along the winning monopoly stickers, according to the docuseries˳
Colombo’s recruiters included “mobsters, psychics, strip club owners, convicts, drug traffickers, and even a family of Mormons,” according to Ranker˳
The recruiters would fly around the country selecting people to claim the lottery tickets˳
One winner, Gloria Brown, said she was pressured to take out a new mortgage on her home to receive upfront money for the winning sticker˳
“My life was in danger,” Brown said in the docuseries˳ “I almost felt kidnapped˳”
How was Jerome Jacobson caught?
Jacobson was eventually caught after the FBI received an anonymous tip about William Fisher, a $1million lottery winner˳
Fished was the father-in-law of one of Jacobson’s connections in Atlanta, Georgia and as the FBI looked into the tip, they started to notice a pattern˳
They noticed that although Fisher had claimed the ticket in New Hampshire, they could easily trace him back to Jacksonville, Florida˳
They looked into the other winners and found that the majority were located in Georgia, where Jacobson lived, or Florida, where he had lived and worked as a police officer˳
In 2001, the FBI placed wiretaps on Jacobson and recent winners who were based in both states and were able to arrest and charge Jacobson with nine counts of felony conspiracy to commit mail fraud˳
Jacobson confessed to all charges and admitted to charging between $45k and $50k for each winning sticker he distributed˳
He was sentenced to 37 months in prison and was ordered to pay over $12˳5million in restitution˳
Several accomplices were also arrested, with the exception of Colombo who died three years after partnering with Jacobson in a car crash in Georgia˳
McDonald’s faced backlash for the monopoly scam and in an attempt to distance itself from Simon Marketing, which had hired Jacobson, they cut ties with the company effective immediately˳
The move resulted in Simon Marketing filing a lawsuit against McDonald’s for a breach of contract which the marketing company won˳
McDonald’s and Simon Marketing settled the matter outside of court and McDonald’s agreed to pay the marketing company $16˳6million, according to CNBC˳
However, Simon Marketing’s image was tarnished and in 2002 it was forced to liquidate the company˳
Since the scandal, McDonald’s has not run the monopoly game in the US although it is still available in other countries˳
The Guardian reported that British Labour Party politician Tom Watson wrote to the company in 2019 asking them to discontinue the monopoly game as it encouraged customers to buy more fast food˳
In his request, Watson wrote: “It is clear that McDonald’s Monopoly is a danger to public health˳”
He continued: “I am requesting that you urgently rethink this strategy˳
“McDonald’s must stop playing on people’s hopes and prioritizing profit over public health˳ I urge you to cancel this marketing campaign˳”
McDonald’s refused to discontinue the monopoly, saying customers receive stickers for their salads and carrot bags˳
The company responded to Watson, saying: “Customer choice is at the heart of everything we do˳”
