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| McDonald's customers will be able to win free food for life with a McGold Card, the company announced on Friday. A McDonald's sign is pictured on July 28, 2004 in Niles, Illinois. Photo: Tim Boyle/Getty Images |
By Andrew N. White, International Business Times
McDonald's customers will be able to get free food for life if they play their cards right. The fast-food chain announced Friday that it would be giving away one McGold card through an online contest.
The customer who wins the card through the competition will receive a lifetime supply of free food from the restaurant. The card specifically grants the winner two free meals a week for 50 years, according to the contest website. The prize is valued at $52,350. The sweepstakes kick off on Friday and run through Aug. 24.
"This is going to cost them less than one corporate Christmas party," said Rob Frankel, a Los Angeles-based branding strategy expert, according to USA Today. "I don’t think it’s going to do anything to encourage the app usage. You have a much better chance of winning a state lottery than picking something like this up."
[post_ads]There are a few ways to obtain the card. Customers can use the McDonald's app to order a meal through Aug. 24 or sign up via email. The rules say that no purchase is necessary, but customers are limited to one entry per day, must live in the U.S. and be over the age of 13.
The odds of actually winning, however, aren’t known and "will be determined by the number of eligible entries," the company said on its website. The winner will be announced by Aug. 29. The prize also grants the winner a 24-carat gold-plated phone case engraved with their name.
This perk may not be new as McDonald's has apparently given out free meal cards to celebrities in the past. In a 2007 interview with CNBC, billionaire Warren Buffet claimed he had a card that allowed him to eat free at any location in Omaha, Nebraska, for the rest of his life.
"Here we have my McDonald's card which lets me eat free at any McDonald's in for the rest of my life," he said, adding that he may not be the only one who had the card.
"There's just a few of them. Bill Gates has one. His is good throughout the world, I guess. Mine is only good in Omaha, but I never leave Omaha so mine is just as good as his."
