Things must be bad. McDonalds just ended their $1 all sizes fountain drink. To their credit, it seemed like a very long promotion spanning several months and helped my own skimpy "blow money" budget. But with the ecomony limping along, I knew it was a matter of time before the Golden Arches hiked the price.
I frequent McDonald's to access the internet and my recent purchase of a cola ended up with the miniscule "small" 16 ounce cup. The kind and knowledgeable associate informed the person ahead of me that the Monopoly promotion bumped the large drink for $1. It was now $1.69. This advanced let-down helped me to at least be able to speak again when it was my turn. The clerk repeated verbatim her mantage when I stepped up to order a drink.
I guess the McD empire is reasoning that we cheapsakes can't have both an additional 20 ounces of soda AND a free monopoly piece. If we want those, we'll have to shell out another $0.69. But since I'm a "dine-in" customer, this only means that I have to make more trips to the fountain drink counter. And at 150 calories a chug (I don't drink Diet) I need to be more active anyway.
Now, of course, I'm going to grab Monopoly's "official rules" the next time I'm in. I'm sure there's a "no purchase necessary" clause in there somewhere--allowing me to get my soda (albeit a reduced size) and monopoly piece...all for $1.
