In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac, first produced in 1968, McDonald’s is releasing the MacCoin. The limited-edition currency allows you to score free Big Macs – here’s how.
How to score free Big Macs
Starting August 2, when you buy a Big Mac at one of 14,000 participating restaurants across the nation, you can receive a MacCoin. Beginning August 3, you can redeem the MacCoin for free Big Macs in McDonald’s locations around the globe. The coin has no actual cash value, but it’s good for one free Big Mac. It’s essentially a buy-one-get-one-free deal for Big Macs.
What are MacCoins?
MacCoins were designed with the history of McDonald’s and the Big Mac in mind. McDonald’s is releasing five separate coin designs, each paying tribute to a different decade of the Big Mac’s existence. The coins highlight the “flower power” craze of the 1970s, the first decade of the Big Mac’s existence; the pop art of the 1980s; the bold, retro style of the 1990s; the technology boom of the early aughts; and the advent of communication in the 2010s. Seven languages – Arabic, English, Indonesian, Mandarin, Portuguese, French and Spanish – also make cameos on the coin designs. The languages represent some of the different countries participating in this deal.
“Since it was introduced at a family-owned McDonald’s restaurant 50 years ago, the Big Mac has traversed the globe and is enjoyed in cities from Shanghai to Chicago, providing delicious, feel good moments to people all over the world,” McDonald’s President and CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a release. “So we wanted a global celebration as unique as the burger itself. The MacCoin transcends currencies to commemorate our global iconic burger while giving customers all over the world a chance to enjoy a Big Mac on us.”
Nick Delligatti, a fourth-generation McDonald’s owner-operator and great-grandson of Jim Delligatti, the inventor of the Big Mac, described how significant the 50th anniversary of the sandwich is for his family.
“When my great-grandfather Jim Delligatti invented the Big Mac at his grill in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, he just wanted to make his local customers happy,” Delligatti said in a release. “August 2 would have been my great-grandfather’s 100th birthday, and I believe he would be very proud knowing his humble sandwich has made such a lasting impression that people all around the world can enjoy it wherever they find a McDonald’s.”
