McDonald’s Japan offers customers the chance to win a chicken nugget made from 18-karat gold

The gold prize is part of a new campaign that involves searching for clues left by a yellow-suited “Nugget Thief” at stores around the country.

After suffering major losses due to several food scandals over the past few years, McDonald’s Japan is attempting to woo back customers with an irresistible offer: the chance to win real gold. Last week, the company announced a creative photo competition with a pack of gold fries as the grand prize, and now the attention is turning to another item on the fast food chain’s side menu: Chicken McNuggets.

The new campaign coincides with the introduction of two new limited-edition dipping sauces, Fruit Curry and Creamy Cheese, which will be available from 8 June. Along with the new sauces, the Chicken McNuggets 15-piece pack will be sold for 390 yen (US$3.55), instead of the regular 570 yen sale price, and the five-piece value set will be sold for 150, a discount of 50 yen.

What’s really got everyone talking, however, is the special campaign that will see one lucky prizewinner walk away with a very special golden nugget. To win, customers simply have to follow McDonald’s on Twitter and then keep an eye out for signs of the new “Mysterious Nugget Thief”, who will be leaving evidence and information on the campaign website and in and around McDonald’s restaurants across the country. Using these clues, customers are asked to guess the thief’s true identity and spread the word by tweeting details of their encounter with the hashtag #怪盗ナゲッツ, which literally translates to “Mysterious Nugget Thief”.

▼ One of the lucky entrants will win a 5-piece packet of chicken nuggets with one piece made from 18 karat gold and weighing in at 50 grams (1.8 ounces).

During the campaign, which runs from 8 – 28 June, one Twitter entrant a day will be chosen at random to receive a special book of coupons for 39 days worth of free five-packs of McNuggets. The decision to offer 39 packs to each winning customer is the company’s way of extending their thanks, as the Japanese pronunciation of the numbers 3 (san) and 9 (kyu) sound just like the words, “thank you”.

Source, images: McDonald’s Japan

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