McDonald’s Monopoly 2019 has one just been launched, but Labour deputy leader Tom Watson already wants it closed down. The game runs for six weeks from March 20th and offers players the chance to win everything from a free milkshake to a Mini Cooper or £100,000 in cash. So if you like McDonald’s food why not?
Because, according to Watson, the game is “a danger to public health”, and I agree with him. For many years now studies have shown that obesity in the UK is on the rise, and that the problem affects not just adults but schoolchildren as well, who will only be encouraged by the Monopoly game to visit the fast food chain even more.
But there’s another potential problem that Watson does not mention, and that is the risk that the game will get young people used to gambling. Through McDonald’s Monopoly kids are enticed to try and win prizes such as an Xbox One Console, or even a trip to Universal Orlando, based on the thinnest of odds. And so how can they improve their odds? By eating more!
So on the grounds that the game feeds the obesity problem and encourages gaming, I think McDonald’s Monopoly should be be sent to jail – without passing Go!