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The Great McScam Revisited · Children of the 80s

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Children of the 80s is brought to you by Q106. 5
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Internet Radio. You can find it online at q1065. com or
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: download the app.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to Children of the 80s. I am one
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: of your hosts, Jim, and I am joined by the
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Lucy to my Charlie Brown, the Mrs. Akhmanek to my Alf,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: the Kimmy Gibbler to my Tanner family. It's my co-host, Lindsay.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Wait, I'm Kimmy Gibbler?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Um, the boner to my mic.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: You're crazy. The cockroach to my Theo.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. You're my boo.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: The skippy to my Alex.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: You're my boo. How you doing over there?
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I'm making it.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Day by day.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Day by day. Some days are diamonds and some days
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: are rocks to quote the theologian Tom Petty.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: He's worth quoting.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: He is worth quoting. Absolutely. Yeah. No, it's going pretty
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: good considering less than five months ago I had a
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: kidney removed. So, hey, it's all gravy from here.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Well, I've got something I'm going to need you to
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: speak to our daughter about.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Okay. What's that?
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: She's at music lessons right now. So I took some
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: clothes off. Up to her room to hang in her closet.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: And when I opened her closet door.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Stuff fell out everywhere.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Well, kind of. But no.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: I see this blue bowl sitting. I brought it in
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: here with me. This blue bowl sitting on her shoe
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: rack in her closet.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, what is that? I get it down.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: There is a container of ranch. And a dried, shriveled
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: up carrot.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Carrot. I'm going to need you to.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: And she just put this in her closet.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I'm going to need you to throw away that container.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I don't want you opening it up because who knows
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: how bad it's going to smell. Who knows how long
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: it's been in there.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: But she's a smart kid. Why did she put this
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: in her closet?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: Some things are unanswerable when it comes to teenagers.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: But she's not like an eight-year-old boy, right? I could
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: see like a little boy doing this. She's a Fairly
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: intelligent 13-year-old girl.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: And I was just blown away.
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  Speaker 2: You want to hear my theory?
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: She went downstairs to get some carrots and ranch one
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: time after we went to bed.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: So I know that's a fact because she told me
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the next day she did it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: And when she came back up, Gary Busey had snuck
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: into her room.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: So she ate what she had. She didn't want any more.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: And she probably wanted to go to sleep, but she
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: didn't want to leave it out for him to possibly
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: eat it. So she put it in her closet and
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: then fell asleep. And eventually he, you know, meowed because
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: he wanted out of her room.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: You know that actually I'll accept that.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: That makes me feel a little bit better because I
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: was just thinking that she's that level of a slob.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean that both things can be true.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Got a couple of things here uh i'm gonna pull
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: up on my phone i want to talk to you about.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Before you talk to me about whatever is you you
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: have to talk to me about so your birthday in
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: the past has killed michael jackson yeah and it's killed
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: farrah faucet um and it wasn't your birthday today but
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: it was just you bringing up um the other day
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: about how you might want to do a an episode
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: on jim and tammy faye baker.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: Yes i brought that up like two days and.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Then this morning there's announced that jim baker has left
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: this earth where do you think he is now i
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: am not gonna be that.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Judge luckily uh you don't have to be but i
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: know what i just thought about.
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  Speaker 2: Um No, you spoke it into existence. I did. So please,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I ask you, don't speak about any more 80s heroes
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  Speaker 2: or anybody in my family or me. Okay, got it,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: got it.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Did you see the picture of him, though? I want
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: to say he was like 85 or something.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I did not see the picture of him, no. Hold on.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: I got you a side-by-side.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: That looks like an old Ron Howard.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: Kind of does, doesn't it?
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  Speaker 2: With the baseball cap and the glasses and everything. And
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: he's got a beard. It kind of looks like an
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: old Ron Howard.
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  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: Yep. He did not look 85. I can tell you
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: that much.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: Sadly.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I bet he does now.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Sadly, he has gone on. But I don't know. Is
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: that something you think that our children of the 80s
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: podcast listeners would care anything about?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: I have no idea.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: I don't either.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: We'll put it out there for him if you want
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: to hear. an episode on Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. No,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: you don't.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: No, you don't.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Then let us know.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: Why would you not?
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Let us know if you'd like to hear that.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: You don't. You don't. Why would you not?
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: And we will put it out there for you. You don't.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: You don't want to do that. So just let us know, folks,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: if you want to do Jim and Tammy Faye Baker.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Who did we talk about a couple of episodes ago?
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Having a beef.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: We talked about Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler. Or if
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: I like to call him Hank Winkler.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: It's a whole nother name.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: No, Hank is for Henry. Henry Aaron, Hank Aaron, Hamron
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: Hank Aaron.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: So growing up, I thought Henry was Hank's brother. I
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: thought Hank was Henry's brother.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess you could name your children Henry
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: and Hank if you wanted to, but Hamron or Henry
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Aaron was known as Hamron Hank Aaron.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: And I was like, wow, they're brothers and they were
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: both that good. That's pretty amazing.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Hey, your Braves are in the playoffs.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: I know, but it's just not the same.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: They're one and one against the Dodgers.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: It's just not the same. And that's not saying much.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: You should tune in to game three because Chris Sale,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: the lefty, is going against the Dodgers. And I'm saying
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: it right now. He's a future Hall of Famer.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: Really? Yeah.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: He's one of the last starting picture Hall of Famers
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: there'll be.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: Okay. Maybe I will tune in then. Yeah.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: He's fantastic.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, we need to talk about two other 80s people
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: having a beef with each other.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Phil Collins.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, didn't he feel like he had a beef
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: with everybody? Paul McCartney. Phil and Paul. I'm pretty sure
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: you told this story when we did the Phil Collins
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: versus Genesis episode or... We had a Phil Collins episode
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: before that week, and I'm pretty sure you told this story.
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  Speaker 3: Do I need to then cut this out?
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: No, go ahead and tell it again.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Well, they made up. That's the point, I guess, or
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: the moral of the story.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: So it's a children of the 80s update.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Children of the 80s update. You know, that's like breaking news.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: When Tom Brokaw.
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  Speaker 2: You sounded exactly like the Tom Brokaw NBC breaking news.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, when he was like trying to get to his seat.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
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  Speaker 1: And so they were breaking news. So, uh, Phil Collins
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  Speaker 1: recently sat down and talked to Piers Morgan and confirmed
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: that he did in fact have a beef with Paul
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  Speaker 1: McCartney back in the day, but that they had since
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  Speaker 1: made up.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Yep. But 20 years ago.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: At the 2002 Queens Jubilee concert. Now, are we talking
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: about the queen as in the queen mother, or are
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: we talking as queen as in Freddie Mercury?
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I think you're talking about the queen as in the
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: queen mother, because if it was 20 years ago, isn't Jubilee,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: isn't that for 50 years?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Well, she became queen in 1952. So in 2000, right?
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Didn't you say 2002? So in 2002, that would have
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: been 50 years. So I'm pretty sure it's hers and not.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Freddie Mercury's Queen.
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  Speaker 3: We had a rehearsal at Buckingham Palace.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that is certainly the Queen moment.
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  Speaker 3: I didn't want to stop you. You were on a roll.
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  Speaker 3: So I was like, well, I guess I'll just let
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: him go.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: And Phil Collins took a first edition Hunter Davies book
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: that was written about the Beatles and apparently is very rare.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: He took it with him to this rehearsal and Because
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  Speaker 1: he wanted Paul to sign it.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: And Paul said, I wish I could do his accent.
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  Speaker 3: Should I try?
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, you should.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: He's a big Beatle fan, is our little Phil.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: No, you can't do that.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. He's a big Beatle fan.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 3: Is our little Phil. And that ticked him off.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Is it because he called him Little?
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Little. Phil. You can't do that to a grown man.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: You know, I don't know this for sure, but I
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: feel like Phil might be taller than Paul McCartney. No?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know because in my mind, Phil
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Collins is like five foot two.
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  Speaker 3: So I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, Phil should have looked at him and said,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: If you were drowning, I would not lend a hand.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: So Phil Collins said that this wasn't the first time
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: that he had met Paul. He actually played on one
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: of his albums, and he had played live with him
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: one time, and he had even given him.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: An award at an award show. So he was like,
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: I know him.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Why is he acting that way? He goes on to
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: say that Paul McCartney... Some years later, emailed him to
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: sort out the situation.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: However, what do we know about Phil?
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Phil wasn't giving in, was he?
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Phil doesn't let things go. Phil could be a woman.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Phil just didn't respond.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Just know, folks, that was her saying it, not me.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Phil didn't respond. But you'll be happy to know this
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: is where the update comes in.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: The two made up. just a few months ago.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Well, that's good, since they're both about half past dead.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: At least they can make up while they're still on
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: this side. Who emails somebody for an apology? Why wouldn't
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: you call him up?
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Well, this.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Second time that happened just a few months ago, he
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: did actually call him up.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, because that's how you get over it. Like,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't email a friend from 20 years ago and
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: be like, hey, remember that time I was kind of
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: a jerk to you? I'm really sorry. Like, I'd call
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: him up and I'd be like, hey, remember that time
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: I was a jerk to you? I'm really sorry. See
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: the difference there?
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Do you think he meant anything by calling him little Phil,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: or do you think it was his British accent?
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: Oh, good day to you, little Phil.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: What is he, the Lucky Charms girl? You know, calling
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: somebody little, it seems very condescending.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, Phil didn't like that. He doesn't
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: like to be condescended to.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Nobody wants to be condescended to.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, he was upset. Now, is Phil a little sensitive?
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, we know for a fact that Phil is very sensitive.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: He is. But he's a musician, and musicians are often
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: very sensitive. Yeah, true. Paul, being a musician himself, maybe
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: should have known that.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, true.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: And maybe shouldn't have been so condescending to little Phil.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Little Phil.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: I got something else I want to talk to you about.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: All right. I'm ready. I'm here. Don't look at me.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I'm here.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping that we haven't discussed this before, and I
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: just forgot. Did you know back in the 80s, Dick
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Clark built a Flintstones-inspired home?
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Now, this I did not know, and no, we have
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: not talked about it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: You didn't know this?
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: No.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Okay. He did.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: It was a one-bedroom house. Home in Malibu. It's set
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: on 22 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, so you know
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: it was beautiful. But listen, it looks exactly like the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Flintstone house.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Seriously?
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Yes, let me.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Did it come with a Dino and everything? Oh my goodness,
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: it totally does.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: That's crazy.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Why are you making that weird face? You don't think
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: it does, do you?
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Because you got a thumbnail picture on a phone sitting
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: 30 feet away from me.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: And even, I've got to tell you, the inside, it's
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: all like floor to ceiling rock formations. Really?
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Yes. Okay, so here's how we'll know for sure if
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: it looks like the Flintstones house. Does it have... A
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: baby elephant vacuum cleaner.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: That's what that is over in the corner. Listen, even
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the kitchen cabinets appear to have been carved into rock.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: So let me show you.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: A quick picture. You know, you don't have to bother
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: showing me pictures. I can't see them. Like they're so
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: tiny and small. I can't make out what it is. Again,
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: can't make out what it is.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Well, I feel like you're not trying.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Do you want me to get binoculars out? What am I,
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: a hawk that I've got that good a sight that
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: I can see way over there on your thumbnail phone? Okay.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: So now let's talk about how much it was worth.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to hear this because,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: you know, Dick Clark, he was not living paycheck to paycheck.
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: No, he was not.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: So Dick Clark died in 2012. Before Emmy was born.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: That's crazy.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: He's been gone a while. Okay, so he died in 2012.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: His estate listed the property after his death for $ 3.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: 5 million. Now, remember, I told you this was a
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: one-bedroom house.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Oh, you did?
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Where was Pebble sleeping then?
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: In 2014, it finally sold... For $ 1. 7 million.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Oof.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: The estate took a hit on that one.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: All right, so let's talk about what we would do
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: with a Flintstone house. A, I would definitely get a
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: dog named Dino, and I'd try to paint him purple
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: as much as I could. B, I would have the
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: music star Pebbles come over, because Pebbles has to be
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: in the Flintstone house.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Right, right. What about Bam Bam?
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I don't. Have you ever seen a real life Bam Bam?
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: Yes, I have.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Have you ever seen somebody named Bam Bam?
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: No.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Okay. So Pebbles is going to be there. And then
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: we are definitely going to get a big, giant stack
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: of brontosaurus ribs that we're going to set on the
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: side of the car. That's what I'm doing with my
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Flintstones house.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: I can't quite wrap my brain around why he would
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: have done it. Why do you think he would have
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: built it to begin with?
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Because he was a lot more odd than we thought
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: he was.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, you think so?
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, doing all those game shows
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: and that American bandstand, you got to hear that bandstand,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: bandstand song all the time. Like, isn't that going to
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: make you go crazy and freaking buy a Flintstones house?
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: So he built it.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Bill the Flintstones house?
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Do you know that?
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: With his bare hands?
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: And his dinosaurs. So do you know in 2007 he
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: sold Dick Clark Productions for, do you.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: Know how much?
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I bet he sold it for $ 250 million.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: $ 175 million. That's close.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Did he sell it to Ryan Seacrest?
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: To the Washington Redskins owner, Daniel Snyder.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Oh, he's a creep.
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: Is he?
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's no longer the Redskins owner. One of the
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: worst owners in sports history. And just a flat-out creep.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: What else you got?
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: I got an email a couple of days ago that
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: really got my juices a-flowing.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Okay, what was it?
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: That email. Who do you think it was from?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Donnie Wahlberg.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: The Georgia Lottery. Oh.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: No.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: McDonald's. McDonald's sent me an email.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Now, I can't believe you would do that to me.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Tell me the Georgia Lottery sent you an email. And
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: then turn around and say that what used to be
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: the best fast food restaurant in the 80s, which is
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: now the worst fast food restaurant, sent you an email.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: They sent me an email. And the title of the
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: email said, Pre-register. Monopoly at McD's starts Tuesday. Do you
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: know what today is?
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Today is Tuesday.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: Today is Tuesday.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Okay, so before you get on with that, can I
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: tell you my McDonald's story? Of course. My McDonald's story.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Is it one you've told before?
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: I don't know if I've told it on this podcast
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: or not, but I have mentioned it to people before.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: So there was a time when I was obviously single,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: and I had to go get my tags for my
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: car because it was... coming around that time. And so
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: that means that meant I had to go to the
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: DMV at lunch. So I left work and I was
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: going to the DMV, but I was starving. So I
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: decided to play this dangerous game. Go eat a McRib
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: from McDonald's and then go to the DMV.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: Oh, no. I don't think I like the direction this
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: is headed.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: It could have turned out very bad for your hero. However,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: it's the only time I've ever been in the DMV
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: where there was no line. So the good Lord was
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: with me that day.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, he was.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Because there was a 50 50 chance after making that
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: decision that i might not return to work that.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Day so how do they make the mcrib look like
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: it has ribs.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Um Well, first off, it's probably not real meat.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: Is it pressed? Pressed meat?
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm sure it is.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: In like a mold? You know, like a Jell-O mold?
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: I sure hope it didn't have mold on it.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: That's why I wanted to clarify. In like a mold,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: like a Jell-O mold or a meat mold?
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: A meat mold.
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: Does McDonald's use meat molds?
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Probably. Probably. McDonald's does not have moldy meat. That's not
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: what we're saying. We don't want to get sued.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: No, I have not said that. So I didn't even
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: know that McDonald's still did the Monopoly game. Did you?
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: I did not.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: I thought that was a thing of the past.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I did, too, because I used to play it all
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: the time in the 90s in college. I thought that
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: was going to be my that was going to be
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: my get out of college free card.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: So I got this email. It starts today. So when
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: this episode comes out, it started yesterday. Go out, download
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: the app, the McDonald's app to play. Let me tell you,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: this year, they're giving away 2027 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Hilton
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Resort Getaway, 50K.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Toward college debt pay down.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Best Buy, $ 5, 000 Tech Shopping Spree, free food and reward points,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: and drum roll, please.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: .
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: A $ 1 million cash prize, ladies and gentlemen.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: What if I've already paid $ 50, 000 towards my student loans
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: and paid them off? Because that's about exactly how much
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: mine was, so are they just going to give me $ 50, 000
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: in cash?
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: Let me see. There is a little asterisk. Let me
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: see what the asterisk says.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: Is it asterisk or asterisk?
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Say my choices again.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Asterisk. Or asterisk.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: It's not an at-risk.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Asterisk.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: It's an asterisk.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: An asterisk. It's an asterisk? Is that what you're saying?
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Have you noticed any word that starts with A-S, I
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: emphasize the A-S?
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: I don't think I'm going to be able to read
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: this small print to tell you what the asterisk tells me.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Well, don't let me see it, because I couldn't even
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: see the Flintstone house that you claim that... Dick Clark built.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: But I know that we did an episode. I'm sorry.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I got to download the app over here. I've got
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: things to do because I'm going to win us something.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: I don't know what. It may just be a free McDouble.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't want a free McDouble. I
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: want a Jeep Grand Cherokee that I can't even pronounce.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: What if I got you a McFlurry?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: So at least I could.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: No.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: So at least I could trade it in for an Acura.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: An asterisk. I thought that's what you were going to say. Yeah.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: But when I saw this email, I remember that, was
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: it season two? We did an episode talking about.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: The McScam.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: The McScandal.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: The McScandal.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: I thought it was the McScam.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: Probably. I don't know.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: And I thought, well, this is a perfect time. Let's
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: go back and let's rehash that story.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: So are you ready?
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I'm ready.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: This is a podcast that looks back on the decade
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: of the 1980s. We talk about things that were important
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: to us as children and what we look back on
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: with fond memories as adults. Ultimately, this is a nostalgia podcast.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: So it sounds to me like we're either getting nostalgic
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: on Monopoly or we're getting nostalgic on McDonald's.
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: Or are we getting nostalgic on McDonald's Monopoly? Time will tell.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: McDonald's isn't a monopoly, though, because there's Burger King and
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: there's Wendy's and there's Taco Bell. No, dork.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: The game monopoly that you played at McDonald's once a
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: year during the mid to late 80s and most of
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: the 90s.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: With the guy with the top hat?
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: And the monocle?
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: He didn't have a monocle. That's straight.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: What theory is that that we talked about a couple
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: of years ago that I can't remember now? No, no, no, no.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: The Mandela effect. That's straight Mandela effect. People think that
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: the monopoly guy has a, uh, has a monocle, but
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: he doesn't.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: He started to say it's the Mongolian effect.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: The Mongolian effect.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: I don't think that's what it is.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, folks can just imagine if we drank what this
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: would be like. Um, For some reason, McDonald's in the 80s,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: those memories, it brings back so many warm feelings for me.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: So many feelings of nostalgia. When I think about going
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: to McDonald's, playing on the playground at McDonald's, getting lunch
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: at McDonald's, going to the drive-thru at McDonald's, so many memories.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Memories are associated with McDonald's.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: You know what my memory associated with McDonald's is? The
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: few times that we did get to go, my parents
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: would go through the drive-thru, they would order us hamburgers
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: or whatever. My brother Mike always had to get a
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: plain cheeseburger, which meant that they had to cook it,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and we sat in the drive-thru for 10 to 15
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: minutes just sitting there, salivating, waiting for our McDonald's. Thanks
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: a lot, Mike.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: But do you know by asking... For that, he ensured
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: he got a fresh hamburger.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: Well, I understand that. But now you can ask for
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: a hamburger with no cheese and it comes out right
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: away because they don't put the cheese on it.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Right. Right?
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: But back then, they put the cheese and the pickles
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: and the whatever on it. Ketchup, mustard, onions. And, like...
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: It just came pre-made. So when he ordered it that way,
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: just plain cheese, yes, he did get it fresh, but
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: they had to cook it from scratch. It was like
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: they had to go slaughter the cow, right? Because these
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: cows made cheeseburgers with ketchup and onions, and these cows didn't.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: So they had to go slaughter the cow. And then
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: age it and then cook the darn cheeseburger, the plain cheeseburger.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: What did he not like, the onions, the pickle, or
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: the ketchup?
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know. But he wouldn't pick it off. And so, therefore,
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: I had to wait 10 to 15 minutes each time
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: for my McDonald's, and I was never happy.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: There's always one in the family. So your family was Mike.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: In my family, it was me.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Did you order the plain or the whatever?
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: Well, I wanted ketchup, but I didn't want anything else.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: You didn't want no pickles or onions? See, the onions
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: are what made it good. They were just little chomped
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: up onions.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: No. No, no, no.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: And then my mom said that she could make a
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: McDonald's burger like McDonald's, you know, and I felt like
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: the Eddie Murphy skit where she was asking for a
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: green pepper. I was like, there ain't no green peppers
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: in McDonald's. You know, so, yeah.
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: Okay. So today we're taking a bite out of a
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: story that's part nostalgia, part True crime.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: I like what you did there, taking a bite out of,
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: what are you, McGruff over there?
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: This is the McDonald's Monopoly game story.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Do you see Janie over there? If she goes into
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: that McDonald's alone, you might not ever see her again.
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: You remember going to McDonald's back in the 1980s, you'd
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: order your fries and you'd peel that little sticker off
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: the fry carton or the drink bottle.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Cup and you.
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: Would pray, you would pray for a boardwalk.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: Yes. So here's the deal. I don't remember this in
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: the 80s. I remember it in the 90s. Oh, really?
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: I was in college in the 90s. And of course,
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: you know, I ate a lot of McDonald's.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: And especially when they had Monopoly going, because I certainly
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: didn't want to finish college and I didn't want to
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: work for a living. I wanted my millions.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Right. Yeah, the American dream.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, but yes, you did pray for the boardwalk.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: So you might pray for a boardwalk, but most likely
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: you're getting maybe a free Coke at best.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, or a chance. Nobody wants a chance card.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: But behind those little game pieces was one of the
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: biggest marketing scandals.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Of the late 80s and 90s.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: Is that why I never won? Possibly.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: Possibly.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: This is a story of how a fast food game
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: turned into a multi-million dollar crime ring. But first, I
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about McDonald's in general.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: A multi-million dollar crime ring? Is it run by John Gotti?
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: So, back in the 1980s, McDonald's wasn't just a restaurant.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: It was the hangout spot.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: It was the.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Reward after school. It was the place for birthday parties.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Did you know you could have a birthday party at McDonald's?
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: I did not.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: It was a stop on a road trip. It was basically...
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: Woven into our childhood, except by the look you're giving me,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking it wasn't woven into your childhood, but it
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: was mine.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: It wasn't woven into my childhood. And I didn't get
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: any birthday parties anywhere because my birthday was too close
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: to Christmas.
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: Ah, so I have a memory of my uncle's first wife.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: Cause he had four.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: Um, his first wife, Worked.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: At McDonald's, and I remember we would go to see her,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: and she would give me the little box of yummy
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: shortbread cookies.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: Do you remember those? Yes.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: They were the characters, right?
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: Like the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese and Ronald McDonald and Grimace.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: And there's nothing else out there that tasted anywhere close
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: to as good as those little McDonald's cookies tasted back
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: in the day. They don't do them anymore, so I'm
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: thinking there was probably something really bad in them.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure.
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: But that's one of my earliest memories.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: I want to say that may even have dated back
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: to 1984.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: I don't think I ever had a birthday party there,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: but I remember going to a birthday party there. You
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: could also order your cake directly from McDonald's.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Really?
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: They would do the cake for you, Butler. No way.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: They would.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: And, of course, I've told the story about playing on
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: the McDonald's playground.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, you have told that story.
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: But.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: You always got stuck in the hamburger jail.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Yes. I always got stuck up there because I was
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: too big to be climbing up, but I always wanted
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: to because I wanted to.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: Be like everybody else.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: So before we peel those Monopoly stickers, let's set the
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: stage with a look back at McDonald's in the 1980s
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: when Ronald ruled fries tasted better and the Happy Meal
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: was king.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Fries definitely tasted better. You know what they didn't have
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: at McDonald's that they had at my local Dairy Queen? Ms.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Pac-Man and Sundaes.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: Sundaes.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: Blizzards.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: The 1980s were the company's biggest growth decade ever. McDonald's
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: went from roughly 5,000 restaurants in 1980 to to 10,000
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: by 1990, or 1980-10. The company introduced the famous slogan,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: it's a good time for the great taste of McDonald's.
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I remember that.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: You remember that?
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: I do.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Okay, Chicken McNuggets debuted nationwide in 1983.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: I remember that.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Demand, listen to this, demand was so massive that McDonald's
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: briefly ran out of chicken supply.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: It doesn't surprise me because I remember it being huge.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: And I also remember thinking that chicken nuggets were called McNuggets.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: So if I went somewhere else, I wanted some McNuggets.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: Okay. Do you remember this?
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: The ad campaign featured a McNugget choir singing.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: We love you nuggets.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: I do not remember.
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: I remember that. I do. Okay.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: So until the mid 1980s, McDonald's fries were cooked in
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: a blend of beef tallow and vegetable oil, giving them
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: that rich, unmistakable flavor.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: And a lot of people heart disease.
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: In 1985, 1986, after health concerns about cholesterol, McDonald's switched
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: to 100% vegetable oil. Women now put beef tallow on
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: their faces.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: Well, then I'm going to dip some McDonald's fries on
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: their faces.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: McDonald's was the king of giveaways in the 1980s. Okay,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: you remember the glasses.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: Of course, yes. Don't we still have some?
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we do.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: I thought so.
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: Okay, so 1983, they did Snoopy glasses.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: And I'm not talking about, like, wear glasses.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: No, you're talking about glass. You're talking about glass drink
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: where they weren't cups.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: No, they were glasses.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: They were glass.
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: 1987, they did the Muppets. Yep. And then they did
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: McDonald land character mugs, which I feel like.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: I thought they did glasses as well for that. But I,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: maybe I'm, I'm misremembering.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: No, no, no.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: I know you're not. I remember, I specifically remember a
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: Ronald McDonald tall glass. And I believe you have one here.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: That's what I'm thinking right now.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: I promise you have one here somewhere.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: I feel like Hamburglar maybe, I don't know, is, is
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: on the glass. Anyways, So the Happy Meal was introduced
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: nationally in 1979, and it dominated the 80s, especially with
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: the movie tie-ins that they did.
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: So do you remember? They were really big on cross-promotion. Yes.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: So the movies that came out like E.T., Batman, Ghostbusters,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: do you remember all of those?
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: They all had some kind of... Connection to the Happy Meal,
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: like a little toy.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: A little toy, and then the Happy Meal box would
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: be decored in whatever movie it was.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: I collected all the McDonald's toys, and I wish so
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: much that I still had them.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness.
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: Can you imagine if I still had them? They would
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: just line the walls in here.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: No, I'm saying, oh, my goodness. Because you have a
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: little mini me that collected all the McDonald's toys from
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: her happy meals over and over and over again.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: And we eventually had to toss them.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I threw them away. Just like my mom did
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: with my McDonald's toys.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: History repeats itself.
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: So, and I don't remember this. So I want to
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: know who remembers this. McDonald's wasn't just in commercials.
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: It was in movies.
• 36:07
  Speaker 3: Yes. 1988, Mac and Me, a full-blown McDonald's-sponsored film featuring
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: an alien who loves Big Macs with the legendary dance
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: scene inside a McDonald's.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: You don't remember Mac and Me?
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: No. Yeah. Okay. No remembrance of that.
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: I believe Mac and Me looked like a mix between
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: Johnny Five and WALL-E.
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: That's a really good description.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: Are you looking at Mac and Me right now?
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: No, but I can picture it with that description. Are
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: you looking it up?
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: No. I am not.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: McDonald's ran a promotion for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: called When the U.S.
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: Wins, You Win.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Customers got scratch cards with Olympic events printed on them.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: If the Team USA won gold in that event, you
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: got free food.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Mac and Me did not look like a mix between
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: Johnny Five and Wally. Mac Mac and me looked like
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: an inbred E.T.
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: Oh, what is that?
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: That is Mac.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: Oh, you should have come with the warning. I know.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: Look, he looks like a malnourished E.T.
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: Who's the kid?
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: Brian Bonsall. No, I don't know.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: I look like Sean Astin from here. Okay, so listen
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: to this, though. I feel like you're not paying attention.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: No, I'm just fascinated with McAmee. He's got huge eyes.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: He's got Yoda ears. He's got puffy cheeks. He's got
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: a bald head, and he looks like he may have
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: been skinned alive.
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: Oh, jeez. That's things and nightmares right there.
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: Oh, it'll haunt me in my dreams forever.
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, so listen to this. The When the U.S.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Wins, You Win 1984 promotional that McDonald's did. Customers, got
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: scratch cards with Olympic events printed on them. If Team
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: USA won gold in that event, you got free food.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Do you know what the problem was with that?
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: That the U.S. won everything that year?
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: The Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics that year. Therefore, the U.S.
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: won a ton of gold medals.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: McDonald's ended up giving away millions of free Big Macs, fries,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: and Cokes, way more than they had expected.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: So that's why they're going to rip us off with
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: a monopoly then.
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: It's rumored McDonald's lost over $ 10 million in giveaways that summer.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: That's insane.
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: I bet the person who came up with that idea
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: got fired.
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's talk about what the prices for the different
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: food items were in the 1980s.
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: So.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: Hold on. Hold on. Can I guess? Just give me
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: a menu item and I'll guess.
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: Okay. A Big Mac.
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: A Big Mac, 99 cents.
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: $ 1.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: 60.
• 39:02
  Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: I was way off.
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: A Happy Meal.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: A Happy Meal would have been $ 2. 25.
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: $ 1. 99. Okay. An average combo meal.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: They didn't have combo meals back in the 80s.
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: No. Everything I'm reading says it was under $ 3.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, it may have been, but there were no
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: combo meals. You ordered them a la carte. Were hamburgers
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: 59 cents?
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: Yes. Good job.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: Okay, 1987 is when the first Monopoly promotion debuted, and
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: that's what we're going to talk about today.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: You know what? Hamburgers were 59 cents. Plain cheeseburgers were
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: 69 cents and half of your life.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Oh, have I shared on the podcast about Papaw Nanny buying?
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, when they went down to like a quarter or something.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: If the cheeseburgers went on sale for like a quarter.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if they went on sale, they would run a
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: sale where the cheeseburgers would be, I don't remember, like
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: 59 cents and the hamburgers would be 49 cents or
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: something like that.
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: I don't remember.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: So Nanny would send me and Papaw to the McDonald's
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: to buy like, A couple of dozen of each. And
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: she put them in the freezer. And she would thaw
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: them out and we ate those for months and months
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: and months.
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: I bet that tasted about as good as when people
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: freeze their wedding cake and then open it back up
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: a year later.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I think about that and kind
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: of the ridiculousness that that is. But, you know, they
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: were from the greatest generation. Like they lived through the Depression.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 40:43
  Speaker 3: Like, she knew a good deal when she saw it.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: She knew how to be frugal.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: And she would make homemade French fries in the frying pan, and.
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: You ate it. And you didn't like it, then you
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: didn't eat. Yeah.
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, no. I know. That's how my family was, too.
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: If you didn't like it, you didn't eat.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: But you also, I don't remember ever having the guts
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: to complain. Like, Emmy would complain in a heartbeat.
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, in a second.
• 41:09
  Speaker 3: I never, I didn't, I knew better.
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I mean, I probably learned that lesson. I
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: may not have known better at first, but I bet
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: you I learned that lesson at some point.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: I also knew that if I ate it and didn't complain,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: I would get dessert. Okay, so 1987. They were already
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: the biggest fast food chain in the world, but sales
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: had started to level off a little bit, and they
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: needed a new gimmick. Something fun, something fast, and totally addictive.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: That's when their marketing agency, Simon Marketing, came up with
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: a genius idea. Combine two American icons, McDonald's and Monopoly.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: McNopoly.
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: The concept was simple.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: You'd buy select menu items, fries, burgers, drinks, and you
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: would get stickers that represented Monopoly properties. And if you
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: collected a full set, boom, you'd win that prize. I
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: remember you would get the board that you played off
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: of would be like in the Sunday paper. I think
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: you could also get it maybe from the store. But
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: I remember if you got it from the Sunday paper,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: you got like two free bonus pieces.
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: You probably got Mediterranean Baltic.
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, right, because who wants those? So they even used
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: the actual Monopoly games and board and colors with permission
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: from Hasbro. It felt just like the board game, only greasier.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: You see what I did there?
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, I see what you did there.
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: So.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: And those prizes that you would win, the big prizes
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: would be cars.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: Vacations, even a million bucks.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: Heart disease.
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: But it turned mealtime into a game. Every fry box
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: was a chance.
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: Like playing the lottery. A glory. Playing the lottery, only you.
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: Got to eat. McDonald's even branded it the thrill of
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: the peel.
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: Do you remember that?
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: Yes. The thrill of the peel.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: Sounds like something that Shakita Bananas should come up with.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: Families traded pieces, co-workers compared collections, and kids became little
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: property moguls. So this is where I pause and I
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: make a confession.
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: Confess.
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: I don't even think this is something that I've ever
• 43:32
  Speaker 3: told you.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: But I can't wait to hear if this is something
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: I've shared with you or not. I played this game obsessively.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: I plotted every day trying to figure out how I
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: could get someone to take me to McDonald's so I
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: could order something to get the little play piece. Or
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: could I just convince somebody to give me their playing pieces?
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: I was just constantly trying to figure out how to win.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: And I went to school bargaining with people on how
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: I could get their playing pieces.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, you were being a little hustler.
• 44:13
  Speaker 3: Oh, I hustled. Because it never crossed my mind that
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: this was rigged.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Never crossed my mind either. And I'm talking about like
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: in the 90s when I was in college. So I
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: worked at a gas station that was right next door
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: to a McDonald's. So if they had the Monopoly thing
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: going on, basically... One meal a day when I was working,
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: I was eating McDonald's.
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: Well, that might explain a lot.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that I'm an idiot. I was still in shape then.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: I've been thinking today about what piece could it have
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: been that I'm referencing.
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: I think it must have been Pennsylvania Avenue Street. North
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: Carolina Avenue and Pacific Avenue.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: The green ones.
• 45:03
  Speaker 3: The green ones, yes.
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: I played some Monopoly back in my day, though.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: Okay, so if you got all three of those, you
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: would win $ 200, 000 that they said went towards a dream home. Well,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: I had two, and I needed the third one. And
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: I went to school, and I was lobbying in the
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: playground for who had that third piece. And somebody told
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: me that they thought their cousin had it. And we
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: might could get together and.
• 45:34
  Speaker 3: Make a.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Trade.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Well, we could go in together. And I had the two,
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: they had the one. And we could win the prize together.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, call me. So they called
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: me that afternoon. And she was like, I've confirmed with
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: my cousin. He has Pennsylvania Avenue. So I had North
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Carolina Avenue and Pacific Avenue. He had Pennsylvania Avenue and
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: he's in.
• 46:05
  Speaker 3: Well, in the.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: Meantime, between the playground and getting home from school, she
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: had pissed me off. She had done something and I
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: don't remember what it was.
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: Probably not much.
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: But she had pissed me off. And I answered the phone.
• 46:19
  Speaker 3: She's like, hey, Lindsay, this is Alyssa. And I went, who?
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: And she's like, Alyssa whoever from school. And I'm like, who?
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: You were messing with her?
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: So then she tells me the whole about, I talked
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: to my cousin, he's got the piece. And I'm like,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: I have no idea what you're talking about.
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: And she's like, what do you mean you don't know?
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: We just talked about it on the playground. And I'm like,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: I have no clue what you're talking about. I've never
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: talked to you about this. I don't have the two
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: green pieces that you're referencing and I'm sorry.
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: I need to go. Muppet babies are on.
• 46:58
  Speaker 2: Okay. So I'm going to stop you right there because
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: I'm going to ask, did this girl, Alyssa, did she,
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: does she, did she know what she did to make
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: you angry or was she like me? She was oblivious.
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: And had no clue what, sin she had committed against
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: thou to make thou so.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: Angry she's like so you're telling me that you lied
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: to me on the playground today when you told me
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: you had these two pieces and i'm like mm-hmm yep
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: that's that's what i'm saying.
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: So you gave up a dream home out of spite
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: i did i sure did well you know what what
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: that explains a lot.
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: She's like, I can't believe you lied to me. And
• 47:49
  Speaker 3: I'm like, yep, well, I did.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: But you didn't. You were lying to her right then
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: and there.
• 47:53
  Speaker 3: That's right. That phone call was a lie.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: So Alyssa from Dalvin Elementary School, if you're listening, I lied.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: I had those two green pieces.
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: Are you going to apologize now?
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: No, I'm not going to apologize. She shouldn't have pissed
• 48:07
  Speaker 3: me off.
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: What did she do?
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't remember. So had I ever
• 48:12
  Speaker 3: told you that story?
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: No, you had not.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: Can you believe 15 years and there's a story I'd
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: never told you?
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: I can't believe that there's a story you haven't told
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: me in 15 years. I can believe that story, though.
• 48:29
  Speaker 3: Can you imagine the 200 grand back in 1987? That
• 48:34
  Speaker 3: was a lot of money.
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: That would have bought you a mansion.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: And so, and I remember she was like, well, now
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: I'm going to have to call my cousin and he's
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: going to be mad.
• 48:44
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, sounds like a you problem.
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: That sounds like you too.
• 48:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, I just wasn't budging on it.
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: No, you weren't.
• 48:54
  Speaker 3: No, no. And that's, yeah, that sums me up. I'm
• 48:58
  Speaker 3: still that stubborn.
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: You know, I would say that Emmy got a double
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: dose of stubbornness.
• 49:06
  Speaker 3: She did.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: So, I've pulled up the McDonald's Monopoly board game.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 49:13
  Speaker 3: So, the three green pieces.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Pacific.
• 49:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was... it was $ 200, 000 cash to go towards
• 49:23
  Speaker 3: a Better Homes and Gardens dream home. Okay, the three
• 49:28
  Speaker 3: yellow pieces.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: Vintner, Atlantic City, and Marvin Gardens.
• 49:31
  Speaker 3: How do you know this?
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: I just know.
• 49:34
  Speaker 3: This is amazing. If you collected all three, you would
• 49:37
  Speaker 3: win a Corvette.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, nice.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 49:41
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: A little yellow Corvette.
• 49:45
  Speaker 3: If you collected the three red pieces.
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: Indiana, Kentucky, and New York. No, no, no. New York
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: is orange. Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.
• 49:55
  Speaker 3: This is insane. But you don't remember the anniversary of
• 49:59
  Speaker 3: our first date.
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: September 29th, 2008. We didn't celebrate.
• 50:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah. We missed it.
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: We did.
• 50:14
  Speaker 3: Okay, you collected all three red pieces. You would win
• 50:18
  Speaker 3: a Sea-Doo.
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 50:21
  Speaker 3: Do you remember back in the day, Sea-Doos were a
• 50:24
  Speaker 3: big deal?
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: They were. They were always giving away on the price
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: is right. A Sea-Doo. It was always in the Showcase Showdown.
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: Is that something that you ever thought you wanted? Because
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: I remember back then being.
• 50:35
  Speaker 3: Like, oh, wow.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, wow, a Sea-Doo. Yeah, no, I don't want
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: a Sea-Doo.
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: But, I mean, I live in Metro Atlanta. What am
• 50:42
  Speaker 3: I going to do with a Sea-Doo?
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: I lived in the middle of America. What am I
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: going to do with a Sea-Doo? Right down the mighty Mississippi,
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: the old maid?
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: Deep river.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, the three yellowish, orangish pieces.
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: New York Avenue.
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, New York. Okay.
• 51:09
  Speaker 3: St.
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: James.
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: Third one's not coming to me.
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: It's where we went a couple of weeks ago.
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: Tennessee.
• 51:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: You could win a Gateway 2000 destination big screen PC
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: TV system.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: I don't even know what that is.
• 51:27
  Speaker 3: Me either, but I'm sure at the time, Little Lens
• 51:30
  Speaker 3: was like, oh, yeah. What was I?
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: What are you, the macho man? Snap into a Slim Jim.
• 51:37
  Speaker 3: What? The three pink pieces. St. Charles? Yep. St.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: Charles is the only one I remember.
• 51:45
  Speaker 3: States Avenue and Virginia Avenue.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: Ah, yeah.
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: You would win a vacation for two to a Westin resort.
• 51:54
  Speaker 2: Ooh, I could go to the Westin.
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: The three pale blue pieces. Do you remember what they are?
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: Connecticut.
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: Vermont.
• 52:03
  Speaker 3: Yes. And.
• 52:08
  Speaker 2: I don't remember the third. Oriental. Oriental.
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: I collected all three of those.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: When a Sony mini disc digital recording system.
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: Oh, nice.
• 52:19
  Speaker 3: Okay. The two purple ones.
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: The Baltic and Mediterranean.
• 52:24
  Speaker 3: Yes. When a $ 5 cash prize. I mean, I don't
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: even know. Can you say $ 5 is a cash prize?
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: No. Okay. $ 5. They ought to slap you in the
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: face with that $ 5. Right.
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: The two blue pieces.
• 52:43
  Speaker 2: Boardwalk and Park Place.
• 52:46
  Speaker 3: That's the million dollar prize.
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: But couldn't you win something if you collected all four railroads?
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: B & O, Shortline, Pennsylvania, and Reading.
• 53:01
  Speaker 3: You could win a Chevy Blazer and Sea-Doo. Combo.
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: Oh, a combo.
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: Get a combo.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: You could ride your blazer in the sea. What? You
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: said a Chevy Blazer and a Sea-Doo combo, so you
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: blaze in the sea?
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: Not that kind of a combo.
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: The Chevy Blazer's going to tow your Sea-Doo to the water.
• 53:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Yeah, because if I want a Sea-Doo, how
• 53:28
  Speaker 2: am I getting it to the water?
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: Well, that's what little Linz never thought about, but adult
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: Linz wonders now, like, okay, how am I going to
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: get it there? McDonald's Monopoly quickly became an annual tradition.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: Each fall, it returned with new commercials, new prizes, and
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: that same electric feeling.
• 53:51
  Speaker 3: People lined up to peel.
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: Most places I go, people line up to pee.
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's because you're old. The odds of winning, though,
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: were ridiculous. Statistically, you had a better chance of getting
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: struck by lightning while eating fries.
• 54:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: Finding the rare boardwalk piece, one in 250 million.
• 54:16
  Speaker 3: That didn't matter. No, no, no, no, no.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: People still collected the game pieces like they were trading cards.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: And of course, McDonald's loved it. Sales jumped by double
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: digits every time Monopoly came back. It was one of
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: the most successful marketing promotions in history. But here's something
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: that most people didn't know. McDonald's didn't actually run the game.
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: Their ad agency, Simon Marketing, handled the printing, shipping, and
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: prize distribution.
• 54:48
  Speaker 3: And that's where things start to go very, very wrong. Okay,
• 54:58
  Speaker 3: so before we dive.
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: Into the criminal side of this story, let's talk about
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: what people were actually winning during those monopoly years. Because
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: you're playing you're peeling to play you're playing to peel.
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: You're peeling to play and you're probably winning a free
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: coke you might win a free large fry.
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: You're hoping for that sea dew you're hoping for.
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: That no i was hoping for the mill.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: 200 grand that i passed on you're really hoping for
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: that million dollars but what are you actually getting 95%
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: of all prizes were for free food.
• 55:31
  Speaker 3: Yes. Fries, drinks, apple pies.
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, they did give away some apple pies here
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: and there.
• 55:37
  Speaker 3: Egg McMuffins.
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: Oh.
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: And that was the brilliant marketing, right?
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: You had to go back to McDonald's to redeem it,
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: which meant more sales and more chances to peel again.
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: So you were like stuck in a vicious cycle here.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: Then you had that next tier, so the small cash prizes.
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: So it was like, Mostly $ 5, sometimes $ 10. As the
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: game went on into the 90s, into the late 90s,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: it may have gotten up to $ 100. I think I
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: saw that somewhere. But that was if you got really,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: really lucky. So they also incorporated giveaways. Sometimes it would
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: be like a CD player, a Walkman, Blockbuster gift cards.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: So basically everything that screamed. 1980s.
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: So I remember seeing the ads where people are winning
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: the cars and the vacations and the money.
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: Well, of course.
• 56:33
  Speaker 3: And that's what I'm wanting.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: But we never knew anybody that won it. We never
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: won anything big. We never knew anybody that won anything big.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: And the people that we knew didn't know anyone that
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: won anything big.
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: You know what those people that were doing on the
• 56:50
  Speaker 2: commercials that won big? Uh-huh.
• 56:52
  Speaker 3: Acting. So which made us all think that we had
• 56:56
  Speaker 3: just like missed it.
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: Right. Right.
• 56:58
  Speaker 3: That we were just unlucky.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: But little did we know those winning pieces were already
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: in the wrong hands.
• 57:05
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: In fact, every million dollar winner from 1989 all the
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: way to 2001 turned out to be connected to the
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: same fraud ring.
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: So this reminds me of the time in high school.
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: when there were people that I knew, I wouldn't call
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: them friends. I would call them acquaintances, but I would
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: hang out with them sometimes. And they were telling me
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: the story about how they were at a party and
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: they had a big, uh, bottle of Jack Daniels and
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: they decided to, um, Not auction it off, but like
• 57:43
  Speaker 2: raffle it off.
• 57:44
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: And so they collected a buck or a couple of
• 57:46
  Speaker 2: bucks from everybody. So there were like 50 people throwing
• 57:49
  Speaker 2: in for this thing. And then they rigged it to
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: give it to their friend anyway. I'm like, you couldn't
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: have just had the 50 bucks, but then you had
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: to rig it and give it to your buddy anyway?
• 57:56
  Speaker 3: Oh, my gosh. They're lucky they didn't get beat up.
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: They weren't going to be messed with.
• 58:00
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: So while the rest of us were peeling for fries,
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: someone else was peeling for the Ferraris. And that's where
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: this story takes a wild turn. So in comes Jerome
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: Jerry Jacobson.
• 58:18
  Speaker 2: Well, there's your problem right there, Triple J.
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: Head of security at Simon Marketing, the guy responsible for
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: protecting the integrity of the Monopoly game, which makes it
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: kind of ironic because he's the one who actually broke it.
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: Around 1989, Jacobson realized he could easily pocket a few
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: of the rare winning pieces before they were sealed and shipped.
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: At first, he gave them to friends and family, but
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: soon he started building a network selling winning tickets to
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: the middlemen for cash. One of these middlemen, Gennaro Jerry Colombo,
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: a member of the Colombo crime family. Oh.
• 58:59
  Speaker 3: And suddenly, McDonald's Monopoly has a mob connection.
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: I did mention John Gotti earlier, and I was just kidding.
• 59:09
  Speaker 3: Ha ha.
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: Colombo helped distribute the stolen tickets through his network, taking
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: a hefty cut each time. But his run ended in
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: 1998 when he died in a car accident. And here's
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: where the story takes a little bit of a wild twist.
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: It's not already a wild twist?
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: Not only, I apologize, not only does it take a
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: wild twist, but it also.
• 59:36
  Speaker 3: Flings us out of the 1980s. So don't judge me here.
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: After Colombo's death, the network started to crumble. In 2000,
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: someone close to the operation who saw too many winners
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: cash in made an anonymous call to the FBI's office.
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: She told them the big winners were all connected. They
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: were family, friends, neighbors, and she suspected something shady. That
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: tip changes it all. The FBI launched what they called
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: Operation Final Answer and soon discovered every major winner traced
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: back to one man.
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: Regis Philbin.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: Jerry Jacobson. Why does Jerry Jacobson remind me of, what
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: is it? Jake and Hymer Schmidt.
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 3: What was that?
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: John Jacob Jingle Hymer Schmidt.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 3: There you go.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: Agents went undercover, wiretapped phones, and even filmed fake McDonald's
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: commercials to catch suspects.
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: No way.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: FBI agents posing as ad reps, handing out million dollar
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: checks while secretly recording confessions. In 2001, Right before 9-11,
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: the FBI arrested Jacobson and dozens of others. Over 50
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: people were charged and nearly all pled guilty. And the
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: reason why I threw in that it was right before 9-11,
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: because that's why.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 3: Very few people have actually heard of this.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 2: Because it got overlooked.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: Jacobson ultimately got 37 months in prison and was ordered
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: to repay $ 12.
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 3: 5 million.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: McDonald's immediately cut ties with Simon marketing who tried to
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: sue them, but lost, um, for more than a decade,
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: the big prizes had been fake and McDonald's monopoly vanished
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: from the.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 3: U S for years.
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 2: Simon marketing should have spilled some coffee on their lap.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 2: Then they might've won the suit.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: So, uh, Jerry Jacobson, he was charged with male fraud
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: and conspiracy to commit male fraud.
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 2: What about female fraud?
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 3: Just male.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: He was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, but
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: he served just a little over three. He was ordered
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: to repay $ 12. 5 million. He also served probation after release
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: and was permanently barred from working in any promotional or
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: marketing role ever again. So, it's sad, though, that the
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: people who were supposed to ensure that the game was
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: legit actually.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: Were the ones that ensured that it wasn't legit.
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, then they rigged the whole thing.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: I want my money back, McDonald's!
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: For those of us who grew up in the 80s
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: and 90s, the nostalgia is still real.
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 3: The excitement, the commercials, the stickers... It's burned.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: Into our memories, even if we never won more than
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: a free apple pie.
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 2: Do they still do Monopoly at McDonald's?
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: So that leads me to the inspiration about why I
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: decided to do this episode. McDonald's is bringing Monopoly back
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: with digital tracking through their app and stricter controls. So
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: you never know, maybe this time. you'll finally get BoardWalk
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: starting October 6th.
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 2: That's this week. That was two days ago. Yep. We're
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: not promoting McDonald's or anything, folks, but if you do
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 2: go and you get a BoardWalk, I think you need
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 2: to share at least anywhere from 3% to 5%.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: So prizes this time around include American Airlines Miles, a $ 50, 000
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Monopoly-themed vacation, a $ 10, 000 Lowe's shopping spree, a 2026 Jeep
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: Grand Cherokee, and that big $ 1 million cash prize.
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 2: That's the only thing I'm interested in. I don't need $ 10, 000
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 2: in Lowe's gift cards.
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 3: That's not getting you very far at Lowe's. No.
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 2: No, no. Well, I mean, I guess it could get
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 2: you something, but I'm not a handyman, as they say.
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 3: I didn't even know they still made Jeep Grand Cherokees, so. Yeah.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 2: I don't want one of those either.
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 3: I just want the mill.
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 2: Can I get the mill?
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 3: I need a car.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: You don't need a car. I just spent a fortune
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 2: on your car. You're going to drive for the next
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 2: 10 years.
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 3: It's old.
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 2: Yes. Like us.
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 2: That was a good story. I, I rather enjoyed it. Uh,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 2: I wasn't sure where you were going. I thought you
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 2: were going to say that maybe the Hamburglar stole some
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 2: of the, the stuff since we stole cheeseburgers and hamburgers
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 2: and all kinds of stuff. But, um, I didn't realize
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 2: that Triple J there ripped people off.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 3: He sure did.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 2: You know what? Never trust Triple J.
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 3: No.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: So I would love to hear if people have the
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: fond memories of McDonald's like I have.
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, they do. You know what I want?
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 2: I want to know if people think what I think,
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 2: and that is McDonald's should go back to those ugly
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 2: orange and brown uniforms with that triangular hat. Paper hat.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: I think that they should go back to those. And
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 2: then they should go back to singing in the commercials.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 2: You deserve a break today. And all that fun stuff.
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 2: We need to nope it on back.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 3: Let's nope it on back, y'all.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 2: To the McDonald's ugly 1980s Padres uniforms.
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: So listen, I'm going to make a promise to you
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: and everyone listening. If anybody wants to get together and
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: we'll play this game as a group, I won't hold
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: out on you this time.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: Nope, nope.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 3: I've matured a lot.
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: She won't lie to you about not having that conversation
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 2: at all or about not having Pennsylvania Avenue.
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 3: I was like, who? Who? What?
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 3: What are you talking about? I never said that.
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's good stuff.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 3: So we'd love to hear from you. Yeah. You can
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 3: find us on social media. We're on x.com. Facebook and Instagram.
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 2: At children of underscore eighties. You can also reach us
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 2: by email at children of the 1980s at gmail.com.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 3: We would love to hear from you.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: We would also appreciate if you would subscribe to our
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: podcast and that way you'll never miss an episode.
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 2: Click that subscribe button, follow button, whatever it is on
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 2: your preferred app. Click it. Click it. Click it.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 3: Click it and tick it. Tick it and click it.
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 2: No, no tickets. Just click it.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 3: Okay. All right.
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 2: Well, until next time, I'm Jim.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 3: And I'm Lindsay.
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 2: And we are Children of the 80s. See you next Wednesday.