McDonald's Is Giving One Lucky Customer Free Food For Life

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McDonald's Is Giving One Lucky Customer Free Food For Life

Jason Alden - Bloomberg

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Do you like McDonald's? Do you like free food?

Honestly, I would be surprised if anyone answered "no" to either of those questions.

The fast food chain must realize the only thing tastier than a Big Mac is a free Big Mac, because they have an exciting new contest.

If you win, it could mean a lifetime of free fries, chicken nuggets, and milkshakes - plus a very fancy trophy.

The McGold Card

McGold card
A real McGold card, which gives its owner free food.SantaBarbara.com

The new contest is inspired by a real discount card so rare it was once though of as an urban legend: the McGold card.

The card gives its holder free food at McDonald's for life, and the restaurant is holding a new sweepstakes with a McGold card as the grand prize.

To enter, you'll need to download the McDonald's app and place an order with the "mobile order and pay option," which lets you order a meal ahead of time and skip the line.

The contest runs from August 10 to August 24, and you can enter once per day, so regular McDonald's customers have an advantage.

Because there's no purchase necessary, you can also enter daily by emailing entry@amoeentry.com. Just include your full name in the body of the email with the date - formatted mm/dd/yy - in the subject line.

Instead of an actual McGold card, the winner will get a 24-carat gold phone case worth $350, with their name etched on it.

While "free food for life" sounds like a dream, the actual grand prize has its limits.

McGold card
Brent Henry - McDonald's

The contest winner will get "up to two meals per week for 50 years, awarded as a $1,000 credit on winner's McDonald's App and $35,400 cash, plus $15,600 to offset taxes on the prize, awarded as a check for $51,000."

If the possibility of a daily McDonald's visit is making you sweat, know that you can visit the restaurant without breaking the bank.

Right now, McDonald's app users get free fries on Friday, and a $1 sandwich or burger daily. Since the chain's famous Big Mac burgers are also BOGO right now, it's easy to visit the golden arches without spending a fortune.

Read the full contest rules on the McDonald's website.

The REAL McGold Card

McDonald's gold card
Rob Lowe showed off his gold card on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show.ABC

Even if you don't win this contest, don't give up on your dream of eating at McDonald's for free.

Over the years, a handful of people have been given actual McGold Cards that guaranteed them free for life at the restaurant chain.

"The McGold Card dates back to 1965, when a McDonald's owner/operators awarded one of its most loyal customers with free McDonald's for life, which became the McGold Card," a spokesperson for the chain explained.

A handful of celebrities, including Rob Lowe and Bill Gates, have talked openly about their gold cards.

McGold card
A handful of celebrities were given these prestigious discount cards.Warren Shankbone / USA International Trade Administration - Wikimedia

Thrifty billionaire Warren Buffett even joked about his, saying "So that's why the Buffett family has Christmas dinner at McDonald's.

But not all gold cards are as valuable as the one up for grabs in this contest, because they usually work at just a few individual restaurants, and often have a time limit.

"Individual stores will make a call on the individual, for example a regular customer or local/national hero," a spokesperson explained to Mirror Online.

McGold card
Cleveland locations gave Charles Ramsey burgers for life after he put down a Big Mac to rescue three kidnapped women.ABC News

Non-famous gold card winners include a philanthropist from Santa Barbara, California, Charles Ramsey, the good Samaritan who rescued three kidnapped women, and 100-year-old McDonald's superfan Nadine Baum.

So start doing good deeds in your community, and you just might earn yourself a McGold card - but please save some fries for me.

Are you hoping to win this contest, and a lifetime of free food?

[H/T: Today, Reader's Digest]

I write about all sorts of things for Shared, especially weird facts, celebrity news, and viral stories.