McDonald's Is Offering Fans Free Food For Life With McGold Card Giveaway
Calling all McDonald's lovers: Are you ready to score a chance at free french fries for life? This holiday season, McDonald's is bringing back a popular promotion that will equip one lucky winner with the exclusive, notorious, and somewhat mysterious McGold Card. The famous card comes with the luxurious benefit of free food for the cardholder for life. That's right; the sweepstakes winner will chow down on complimentary Chicken McNuggets for the rest of their days (via McDonald's). The chain adds that the lucky cardholder will also be given the opportunity to share access to their newfound fortune with three of their McDonald's-loving friends or family members.
According to McDonald's, entering the McGold Card giveaway is simple. Starting December 5th, every order on the McDonald's app of at least $1 gives customers one entry into the giveaway. What better reason to make an extra pit stop to grab a McDonald's dessert? The winner will join an elite club of McGold Cardholders, including Rob Lowe and Warren Buffet, who have secured their own access to free McDonald's meals (via CNN).
There has to be a catch, right?
Winning free McDonald's for life sounds exciting, but it doesn't actually add up to bottomless french fries, as you might assume.
McDonald's last ran a similar promotion in the summer of 2018 (per McDonald's). According to the official contest rules from that giveaway, the "McDonald's for Life" was awarded by way of a custom gold-plated phone case, a $1,000 credit on the McDonald's App, and a check for $51,000 (including $15,600 to offset taxes on the winnings).
This time around, three prizes will be awarded (one per week of the contest), and the winners will be faced with an interesting decision. The lucky cardholders can receive one McGold Card (valued at $1,040) each year for 50 years or opt for a single $1,040 McGold Card and a check for $50,960. Both options will include money to offset taxes incurred by the winnings. Whichever route the winners choose, they will also be able to share the love by gifting three friends with the exact same prize option (via McDonald's for Life Appstakes).
You still have time to consider which option you'll go with if you find yourself in the winner's circle. According to McDonald's for Life Appstakes, the sweepstakes run from December 5-25, 2022.