When Rob Lowe made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2015, he impressed his fans with something that had nothing to do with his acting talent.
What amazed viewers watching the talk show was a special gold card Lowe flashed during his interview with Kimmel. The West Wing star revealed the card entitled him to free food at a McDonald's location in Santa Barbara, California.
News about Lowe's special fast food privileges spread, and soon it was revealed that a handful of celebrities were also getting their Egg McMuffins for free.
Famous investor Warren Buffett has a gold card for McDonald's locations in Omaha, Nebraska. The billionaire joked, "So that's why the Buffett family has Christmas dinner at McDonald's."
Another billionaire, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has an even more valuable gold card. His promises Gates free food at any McDonald's location around the world.
It may sound like the gold card club is so exclusive you could never hope to get one. But the truth is it's easier than you think to earn free food for life at McDonald's, and we'll tell you how to do it.
Here's the tricky thing about gold cards: except for Gates's universal card, these free food tokens are handed out by McDonald's franchise owners, not the company itself.
As a McDonald's spokesperson explained to the Mirror Online, "Individual stores will make a call on the individual, for example a regular customer or local/national hero."
Yes, you read that correctly. All it takes to earn free food for life is becoming a local celebrity, or getting on a franchise owner's good side.
When Charles Ramsey left a half-eaten Big Mac to help rescue three kidnapped women in 2013, McDonald's rewarded the good Samaritan with free food for life (at Ohio franchises).
A local restaurant in Baltimore also gave 100-year-old McDonald's fan Nadine Baum free food for the rest of her life.
In fact, Rob Lowe wasn't given his card for being famous. He just made friends with Santa Barbara franchise owner David Peterson. Peterson also awarded the free food card to a local philanthropist named Larry Crandell.
So start doing some good deeds in your community and you could earn yourself free McDonald's for life!
I would love to eat free at McDonald's for the rest of my life!
