Sales at McDonald’s have been slipping in recent years, and the company has done everything from making major changes in leadership to revamping the Dollar Menu to offering chicken wings that largely sat uncooked in franchisees’ freezers. Facing forecasts of another down quarter, franchisees are hoping that a couple of old favorites will help point sales in the positive direction.

BurgerBusiness.com reports on a new McDonald’s franchisee survey from an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott, in which a number of Golden Arches operators are praying that the current Monopoly promotion will result in better sales.

“Everything depends on Monopoly,” says one franchisee, who is not misquoting William Carlos Williams, but is expressing a hope that the annual promotion will get more customers in spending money on menu items with Monopoly game pieces attached to them.

Another franchisee admits that previous Monopoly promotions have helped move product even if they didn’t result in huge profits.

“Hopefully Monopoly will give us a few more transactions,” said another franchise operator.

Echoes one more franchisee, “I am counting on Monopoly to stop the bleeding.”

Another go-to promo for McDonald’s in recent years has been the McRib, everyone’s third-favorite pork-like piece of formed meat on a bun.

“McRib should prevent further declines,” says one franchisee, who has apparently never heard of diminishing returns.

When the McRib returned from more than a decade of fast food exile in 2010, it was feted like the coming of some sort of sauce-covered savior.

Subsequent seasonal offerings of the sandwich have done well for the chain, but this year’s McRib promotion is not going to be a national effort with a large, concentrated advertising campaign. It remains to be seen whether fans will come out in droves without the McDonald’s corporate marketing machine to drum up business.

One repeated complaint from franchisees is that McD’s HQ lacks any sort of overarching turnaround plan.

“They simplify…and then just add more products,” says one operator. “I don’t think that anyone at McDonald’s really has a strong vision for the brand in the USA.”

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