:: adgruntie :: Did McD's rig promo games?

+ Burger King's National Franchisee Association sues McDonald's for losses due to McDonald's rigged promotional games. Wow I guess I had missed that news.

[They are] seeking damages for unfair competition arising from McDonald's 'false, deceptive and/or misleading representations concerning promotional games that McDonald's used to attract customers to its restaurants and enhance customer loyalty from 1995 (if not earlier) through at least August 2001.' Approximately 50 people have pled guilty to criminal charges associated with the rigging of these McDonald's games.

The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division under the Lanham Act, which prohibits false advertising to protect not only the rights of deceived consumers, but also the rights of competitors against unfair competition. The suit alleges that McDonald's rigged promotional games diverted business away from Burger King franchisees restaurants and allowed McDonald's to generate windfall profits, customer loyalty and market share that it would not otherwise have obtained.

The suit details how McDonald's contracted with Simon Marketing, Inc. to administer its promotional games, including its especially popular 'Monopoly' games. On August 21, 2001, however, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI announced the first eight arrests, including Simon's Director of Security Jerome Jacobson, of a criminal ring responsible for fixing McDonald's promotional games for years by embezzling at least $20 million worth of the rare, winning high-value games pieces. Then U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft described the 'fraud scheme' as one which 'denied McDonald's customers a fair and equal chance of winning.' Subsequent court proceedings have documented that virtually all of the 'million dollar prizes' were wrongfully diverted from McDonald's contests at issue in the case.

I bet McD's isn't lovin' it. ;-)