McDonald’s Monopoly is back this year and seems to be popular among many Ohio State students.

“The prospect of winning is very exciting,” said Joseph Mook, a fifth-year in music education.

The promotion works in a way where customers are able to buy specific items that have game pieces on them and then trade those pieces in to win prizes. The McDonald’s Monopoly promotion is entering its 19th year nationally, said Jeff Kane, marketing manager for McDonald’s in the Ohio region.

“It’s just something that our customers have come to expect and enjoy,” Kane said.

Patrick O’Donnel, a fourth-year in psychology, said not only has he been playing since he was a child, but also that the promotion has increased his likelihood of going to McDonald’s.

“It gives me a reason to go to McDonald’s when I normally don’t,” O’Donnel said.

Kane said that although it is too early to tell exactly how sales have increased since Monopoly began, the promotion has started out strong for the 2011 year.

Monopoly seems to be particularly successful on the OSU campus, with students such as Mook and O’Donnel who said they try to go to McDonald’s at least twice as many times as they would normally go.

Mook said he plays Monopoly at McDonald’s because he likes the possibility of winning something.

The advertisements for McDonald’s Monopoly said one in four people would be winners.

There are some students, such as Micah Thorn, a second-year in electrical engineering, who said they do not follow the game very closely.

“I got my first pieces today,” Thorn said.

Thorn said he only knew about the promotion because he saw advertisements on television.

However, Mook said he has known about the promotion since he was in high school but has not participated heavily until he started college.

“Being a poor college kid, you appreciate any opportunity to win stuff,” Mook said.

Kane said he is not too surprised that university students are following McDonald’s Monopoly so closely. Most college students grew up with McDonald’s Monopoly, Kane said.

The promotion has expanded from when it first began. Customers are now able to play online, have hard game pieces, and participate in a dice-roll program, Kane said.

Although the promotion ends on Oct. 24, O’Donnel said he is looking forward to many more years of McDonald’s Monopoly.

“I don’t think I will ever stop playing Monopoly,” O’Donnel said.