There is information on the Internet that some clients of the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain are given a special card that allows them not to pay for the food they ordered. We decided to check if this is true.

Information about gold cards can be found at websites, dedicated to this fast food chain, and in collections facts O McDonald's. They are mentioned on entertaining And information portals, as well as resources about life in the USA. Blog users write about maps (“Peekaboo", LiveJournal) and social networks (for example, “VKontakte"). Visitors sites questions and answers asking how one can become the owner of such a card.

One of the first to publicly display a McDonald's gold card was American actor Rob Lowe, who boasted her on the Jimmy Kimmel show in 2015. According to the information on the card, the card entitled the artist to free meals at the chain's restaurants in Santa Barbara and Goleta for a year. Lowe said that he received it thanks to his many years of friendship with Herb Petersen, creator of the McMuffin and one of those who stood at the origins of McDonald's. Since Petersen died back in 2008, it can be assumed that the actor is given a new card every year.

However, publications about gold cards have appeared in the media before. For example, in 2008, in possession of such a card admitted American billionaire Warren Buffett - he spoke about this in an interview with CNBC. The investor also said that Microsoft creator Bill Gates also has a gold card, and, unlike Buffett’s card, which is valid only in the city of Omaha, Gates can use his all over the world.

American politician Mitt Romney toldthat his father had the same global map - he gave it to George Romney Ray Kroc, one of the founders of McDonald's. Moreover, company representatives say that Kroc was distinguished by his generosity and gave out many such cards during his life, but to whom exactly and for what reason is not specified.

It happened that the card was awarded not only to acquaintances of company owners and billionaires, but also to ordinary people - for special merits. In 2013 her received a resident of American Cleveland, Charles Ramsey, who saved three women who had been forcibly held by a kidnapper for several years. In an interview he toldthat after buying lunch at McDonald's, he returned home to eat a burger and, while sitting in the living room, heard a cry for help from a neighboring house. The man ran out into the street “with a half-eaten Big Mac,” helped the abducted girl free herself and call the police. A whole campaign in support of Ramsey then launched on social networks, with users calling on the restaurant chain to provide the hero with free meals for life. As a result, a McDonald's spokesman said that Ramsey would be given a card that would allow him to eat free at all the chain's restaurants for a year, after which the free service would continue, but only at restaurants in Ohio.

In recent years, the company has been holding drawings of such cards among visitors to the chain’s restaurants, the latest passed in the US in December 2022. Back then, in order to receive a prize, you had to make purchases through the McDonald's app. Judging by media reports, the restaurant spent Such drawings have happened before, for example, in 2018, however, the rules were stricter then: the winner’s card was valid only for 50 years and gave the right to one visit per day. Similar promotion took place in 2022 in the UK: 1,000 gold cards were drawn, entitling them to one free meal per week for a year in the chain’s British restaurants. It is likely that McDonald's branches in different countries independently decide whether to hold similar sweepstakes in their restaurants.

Apparently, such promotions are not held often, but celebrities manage to get the coveted card in countries where cards are not played, albeit in a slightly different version. Thus, German rapper Kay One in 2018 told on his social networks that he became the owner of not a gold, but a black client card, which also gave him the right to eat for free at his “favorite restaurant.” However, at that time the performer was just participating in advertising campaign McDonald's, so the post about the black card could just be a marketing ploy.

Thus, the McDonald's gold card, which entitles you to free meals in the restaurants of this fast food chain, really exists. Judging by the stories of its owners and media reports, some of them operate throughout the world, while others operate only in certain regions. There are a few reports that similar cards exist in other countries, such as Germany and the UK. However, these cards are quite rare and are owned mostly by celebrities. In recent years, any visitor to McDonald's can become a card owner by winning sweepstakes held by the fast food restaurant chain, although they are not held in all countries.

Cover photo: Screenshot from Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC