The Waffle

Every year, McDonald’s comes back with its Monopoly contest.

And every year, I basically do not play.  But after a hard day’s work on Jean-Claude Rocheleau’s campaign and after dropping by my friend’s to catch the remainder of the hockey game, I knew this could be a special night.

I dropped by the McDonald’s location on Sherbrooke West, near the Big “O” and ordered a Big Mac Trio.

With my food, I got two game pieces.

The goal of McDonald’s Monopoly is to find a rare game piece that will give you the opportunity to  win big, and then to find the not-so-rare partner(s) of said rare piece. The complete rules are here.

Did I get lucky?

Well, kind of. My first pieces gave me instant prizes, along with properties.

I won a Small Barq’s Root Beer, value $1,39; beating the 1 in 36 odds; and I one a Small Fries, value $1,39, beating the 1 in 36 odds. Yay!

I obtained the Marvin Gardens, giving me 1/3 of what I need to win $25,000. Woo hoo! Well, not quite. Marvin Gardens is not a rare piece, and my odds of collecting the rare Ventnor Avenue to win one of the 8 prizes were 1 in 320 293 000. Tough.

My other property piece was even more exciting: Park Place. 1/2 of what I need to become a millionnaire. A MILLIONNAIRE!!! (Well, technically, I would need to wait another 19 years since they give only $50 000 a year for 20 years…) But I’m 50% there! Alas, once again, Park Place is not a rare piece, and my odds of collecting the super rare Boardwalk to win the one million dollars are 1 in 542 034 000. That’s a lot of Big Macs.

I’ll content myself with this one. For now.

I did enjoy it - they always taste better after midnight, when it’s quiet, and the employees have time to pour all the McLove they can into assembling McDonald’s Flagship Sandwich.  Fries can be old from time to time, but it wasn’t the case this time around.  So, I guess I did get lucky after all.

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Since I pointed out the US’ McFarthest point earlier, I think it is only appropriate to raise this.

McDonald’s has franchises in 119 countries in the world… but not for long.  In fact, McDonald’s is already writing off one country before it officially shuts down.

Because after Midnight this coming Saturday, Icelanders will no longer able to enjoy a Big Mac under Reykjavik’s Midnight Sun.

Iceland’s economy is in deep, deep trouble.  The low value of the Krona, tariffs on agricultural product imports and high commodity prices has brought the demise of the burger giant in Iceland.

A Big Mac is now sold for 650 Kronur in Iceland. (5,55 C$ at today’s exchange rate). Although it is the not the most expensive Big Mac in the world, the current owners of the franchise didn’t see any future in the chain.

And McDonald’s does not see any future in Iceland either, apparently:  “The unique operational complexity of doing business in Iceland combined with the very challenging economic climate in the country makes it financially prohibitive to continue the business.”

McDonald’s move comes 10 months after their main competitor, Burger King, shut down its operations in Iceland.

So what to do?  A Hamburger Today is recommending Hamborgara Búllan which boasts the Offer of the Century with a Burger, Fries and a Soda for 1190 Kronur!

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Civilization is an interesting concept.  Being far from it is even more interesting.  Stephen Von Worley, an american blogger and photographer, decided to find out how far from it you could be.  How deep in America can you be. You know, where the buffalo roamed.

Or, more to the point, what is the McFarthest Spot in America. As you can see below, McDonald’s got the territory covered very well, with 13,381 outlets.

Von Worley studied, mapped out (Download a bigger, wallpaper-ready version of the map), and found that between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley, you would be 107 miles away by helicopter or 145 miles by car from an outlet that could put an end to your Big Mac craving.

It is quite unlikely that I’ll ever move there.

But perhaps Phillip and Tina Sherman should.

As for Canada, it would be easier, as the chain has only slightly more than 1400 outlets in our country. And, if you have a Big Mac craving, you may want to avoid the Cambridge 401 location, apparently the busiest McDonald’s in Canada.

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