Win Ms. Pac-Man at Roy Rogers 🍗

To help celebrate the release of Ms. Pac-Man, Roy Rogers ran a contest where the top prize was your very own Ms. Pac-Man arcade game.

While a lot of people might not like living near a major highway, it does have its perks. For example, if you have a car, it is just a short drive to the open road. In New Jersey, it had another advantage. The New Jersey Turnpike had rest areas with fast food that wasn’t available in my town. So when we were hungry for Roy Roger’s we didn’t even need to pay a toll to get to the rest area, but could instead get there on foot through a back way.

We loved Roy Roger’s Fried Chicken and would get it every other month or so. It was always a memorable meal, but it got more memorable when Roy Roger’s would run contests or giveaways that I was excited for.

In the summer of 1982, to support the arcade release of the now classic, Ms. Pac-Man, Roy Rogers ran a contest. They had assorted food and monetary prizes, but the prize that I was interested in, and the one that was advertised heavily, was a Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine!

The contest used stamp-style game pieces that you would get when you purchased food. Then you would take those pieces and stick them on this handout they gave out. To compare it to something that ran longer and was more popular, It has some similarities to how you play the McDonald’s Monopoly game. Here you can see the handout:

Here is what you could win:

• A Ms. Pac-Man Arcade Game or $2,500 cash

• $5000, $100, or $50 in cash

• A $10 coupon book

• A Ms. Pac-Man T-Shirt

• Assorted Food

You couldn’t instant-win the arcade game, instead you needed to gather your game pieces to put together an entry form and mail it in. Now, I know that the smart move would be to take the cash over the arcade game, but no way I would have made that choice. I also would have loved to get that t-shirt.

The problem with this contest, was one that I had with most contests of its kind. My family didn’t eat out enough to get enough game pieces for me to accumulate anything close to a larger prize within the time frame of the contest. I did win a sundae, which I remember eating while my sister drove us home after we had picked up a box of chicken.

The contest lasted just a few months, but they did some great advertising to get the word out. This included some fun ads in newspapers featuring everyone’s favorite power pellet eater and coupons for 99 cent hamburgers (15 cents extra for cheeseburgers).

But the real advertising fun was this quirky television commercial. It has great animation of Ms. Pac-Man, a family explaining the contest, and a very unusual vocal choice for Ms. Pac-Man. I am not sure if they are trying to sound robotic, but the sing-song quality is very odd. Pay close attention to the animations and see Ms. Pac-Man gobble up various food and drink Cokes. I am pretty sure none of this is canonical.

Although the contest's prize mostly eluded me, the memories of this unique experience will forever hold a special place in my heart. Even though I didn't claim the arcade machine, the excitement and anticipation it generated were memorable. As I reflect on those bygone days, I am grateful for the sometimes weird opportunities that living near the New Jersey Turnpike brought into my life. It was a reminder that even amidst the hustle and bustle of highways and rest areas, there are always surprises waiting to be discovered.