One Of The Biggest McDonald's Scandals Ended In A Real 'Go To Jail' Card

McDonald's has run contests and games to boost customer satisfaction and increase brand loyalty, but not all of the schemes have gone according to plan. Among some of the scandals to rock McDonald's history is one involving McDonald's Monopoly. First launched in 1987, the game tempted customers with the chance of winning money by collecting a series of peel-off stickers affixed to items like drinks and french fries. As customers eagerly ripped off small pieces of paper with anticipation of the concealed prize, they didn't realize that the game was rigged.

Jerome Jacobson, the director of security for Simon Marketing, was employed to make sure no one tampered with winning stickers. The position gave Jacobson the perfect opportunity to take them for himself. Jacobson took advantage of a clerical error when a supplier mistakenly sent a package of tamper-proof seals. Jacobson held in his hands the tool needed to open and re-seal prize packages without anyone knowing. To avoid getting caught, Jacobson would enter restrooms to swap winning stickers for non-winning ones before re-sealing the packages and selling winning pieces among his network. He had a team of friends and family who would help him find buyers. Jacobson made a rule that the winning pieces would need to be moved to other states to not cause suspicion, but a clear pattern of reported winners in Georgia and Florida (Jacobson's home and previous place of employment, respectively) was noted.

Jacobson wasn't a cold-blooded scammer, however, as he sent a $1 million piece to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The motive was born out of the hope that a charitable move might impact his sentence should his scheme be detected. When authorities got an anonymous tip that big winners were related, arrests began. It was discovered that Jacobson would sell $1 million pieces for $50,000 cash and sold a $200,000 piece to his butcher for $45,000. In 2001, the FBI arrested Jacobson and seven accomplices for felony conspiracy. In total, over 50 people were convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy, and Jacobson was sentenced to over three years in prison plus restitution fines of over $12.5 million. 

As a result of the debacle, McDonald's swiftly ended its dealings with Simon Marketing and announced a $10 million instant cash giveaway to try to undo the harm and potential backlash of the exposed controversy. Though McDonald's Monopoly game was shelved in the United States in 2014, it was brought back in 2025, complete with security upgrades that included both physical peel-off stickers and digital scans. All pieces were scanned and tracked through McDonald's app, where independent audits could provide accountability and hopefully ensure that characters like Jacobson and his comrades couldn't repeat such manipulation.