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.
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.
So has anyone tried this i really want to know if this works?