If you’re looking for something to watch during your time at home, I’d recommend McMillion$, the six-part documentary on HBO that outlines the McDonald’s Monopoly game fraud. They couldn’t have picked more colorful characters if they had cast them, but this is a true story with the real players who are cinematic gold.
Two takeaways from this series:
- It was one person, working alone, who masterminded and carried out the entire scheme to steal the winning game pieces and sell them to others, netting himself a cool $24+ million in the process. If you played the game in the 1990s and thought you would “never” win, you were right because Jim Jacobson controlled all of the big winners within his network – for years.
- It was one person, working alone, who tipped off the FBI and let to the end of the scheme as well as the arrest and conviction of many of its players. Had this person – whose identity is left a bit ambiguous in the show – not called the Bureau, the scam could still be going on today.
Whether for good or for ill, one person has the power to make an indelible, lasting impact on things far outside their own circle. Use your power wisely.
