Politics Are Brewing at 7-Eleven®
Retailer Invites Americans to Vote in Fourth 7-Election™
Presidential
Coffee Cup Poll
Dallas
(Sept. 13, 2012) – Every four
years, some
things happen like clockwork – leap year, the summer and winter Olympic
games, U.S. presidential elections, and with it, 7-Eleven®’s
7-Election™ Presidential Coffee Cup Poll.
In past years, millions of everyday
Americans have
participated in
the 7-Election vote as they go about their daily routines. While many
states offer early voting that typically begins a few days before
Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 6), the 2012 7-Election voting starts
really early – September.
Billed as unabashedly unofficial and
unscientific, 7-Election
invites customers to vote by selecting specially marked coffee cups,
blue for President Barack Obama and red for former Gov. Mitt Romney. 7-Eleven’s
regular “nonpartisan” cups are also available for undecided customers
or those who would rather not publicize their presidential preference.
Patriotic coffee-drinkers can vote at participating 7-Eleven
stores as early and as often as they want in the two months leading up
to the national election.
7-Election cups are instantly
tabulated at the register when
the
sale is made. National, state and major market results will be posted
daily on www.7-election.com, a website created especially for the
coffee-cup poll. Poll tallies will reflect the percentage of candidate
cups sold to date, not including 7-Eleven’s regular
(“undecided”) cups. Participating 7-Eleven stores are
encouraged to post their stores’ latest race results at the hot
beverage islands.
“Each day, almost 7 million
Americans visit our neighborhood
stores
on their way to work, after school or while they’re out and about.
Around 1 million of those purchase a cup of 7-Eleven
coffee,” said 7-Eleven,
Inc. President and CEO Joe DePinto. “While we have never billed
7-Election as scientific or statistically valid, it is astounding just
how accurate this simple count-the-cups poll has been – election after
election. We have had a lot of fun with it, and I hope we have
encouraged people how important it is to vote in the real election.”
7-Eleven has added
several new elements to perk
up the
company’s 2012 campaign including its second annual CofFREE Day,
Friday, Sept. 28. As a nod to National Coffee Day (officially on
Saturday, Sept. 29), which occurs during the 7-Election campaign, 7-Eleven
encourages people to stop by stores and vote their choices. Between 6
and 10 a.m. that day, customers can vote by selecting a free large cup
of coffee in their preferred blue or red cup. During that same time
period, nonpartisan large-size 7-Eleven cups also are
available for free. This is the first CofFREE Day held during
7-Election, and voter turnout is expected to be strong – as is the
coffee.
New this year, 7-Eleven
has partnered with The
Onion, a
popular, Peabody award-winning news satire organization, to help get
out the vote. The retailer is sponsoring The Onion’s “War for the White
House” news coverage, which includes four exclusive news vignettes that
can be seen on Onion News and the 7-Election website.
Also, a special “Mobile Oval”
political party bus featuring a
mini-presidential Oval Office on wheels will be traversing the country
from Friday, Sept. 28, through Election Day, Nov, 6. The very-visible
vehicle will make multiple campaign stops, with the 7-Eleven
grassroots team offering free coffee samples, handing out coupons and
taking photos of visitors in the Mobile Oval or with their favorite
candidate. Tweets from the road will appear on Twitter (#mobileoval),
and a map highlighting the bus route will be updated regularly on the
7-Election website.
Other elements of 2012 7-Election
include a
grassroots-on-wheels
campaign. Festooned with backdrops that include life-sized likenesses
of each of the two candidates, 7-Eleven sampling buses
are serving up both great coffee and photo opportunities with their
favorite two-dimensional candidate through Election Day.
Since 2000, 7-Eleven
“coffee cup-voters” have
successfully predicted the winner in each presidential election, giving
7-Election a better track record than some well-known statistically
valid polls. Past 7-Election results compared to actual vote tallies
were:
2000 Election |
7-Election |
U.S. Voters |
George W. Bush* |
21 percent** |
47.9 percent |
Al Gore |
20 percent** |
48.4 percent |
2004 Election |
|
|
George W. Bush* |
51 percent |
50.7 percent |
John Kerry |
49 percent |
48.3 percent |
2008 Election |
|
|
John McCain |
46 percent |
45.7 percent |
Barack Obama* |
52 percent |
52.9 percent |
*Elected.
**In
the 2000 7-Election, all cup sales, including unmarked
“nonpartisan” cups, were tallied.
In subsequent years, only the
candidate cups were included in the results.
7-Eleven customers also
will see the return of
vanilla-flavored “Purple for the People” Slurpee® drinks at
participating 7-Eleven stores, billed as a “peace-maker”
beverage to unite the country. During the contentious mid-term 2010
elections, 7-Eleven created the unifying purple drink to
symbolically unite the red and blue sides of the political spectrum.
7-Eleven was the first
U.S. retailer to offer
fresh-brewed coffee in to-go cups back in the mid 1960s. It proved an
instant success. Customers liked fixing their coffee the way they
wanted it – choosing cup size, regular or decaffeinated, and adding
sweeteners and creamers to suit their tastes. Today, 7-Eleven
sells more fresh-brewed coffee than anything else – 1 million cups per
day. In each of the past 7-Election polls, more than 6 million
candidate cups were cast.
While a nonpartisan beverage enjoyed
by Democrats and
Republicans
alike, coffee does have deep political roots in American history. In
1607, Captain John Smith in Virginia introduced coffee in America, and
it was named the national beverage by the First Continental Congress
after the Boston Tea Party.
What’s Brewing
during 7-Election
2012
How
to Vote – It’s easy. Visit a
participating 7-Eleven
store. Head to the hot beverage (coffee) bar. Select a blue cup for
Obama or a red cup for Romney. Fill with hot drink and customize, if
desired, with free creamers, syrups and sweeteners. Take to the cash
register. When the UPC code is scanned, the cup’s vote is counted.
National, state and major market results are posted at the end of the
day on the 2012 7-Election website at www.7-election.com. People are
invited to vote as often as they want.
CofFREE
Day – It promises to be an
election free-for-all. 7-Eleven
will pour it on Friday, Sept. 28. That’s when customers are invited to
stop by a participating 7-Eleven store and vote by
selecting a free, large-size red or blue cup of coffee between 6 and 10
a.m.
Mobile
Oval
Tour
– This political
party bus is on
the campaign trail, crossing the country starting on CofFREE Day,
Friday, Sept. 28 through Election Day, Nov. 6. Inside is a mini-replica
of the Presidential Oval office, where visitors can have their
oh-so-official-looking photos made. Scheduled stops and photos will be
posted on 7-Election.com, 7-Eleven’s Facebook fan page
and Twitter feed.
Sampling
Trucks
– Sampling trucks
with
larger-than-life backdrops of the two candidates will be showing up at
local events during the 7-Election campaign. As with the Mobile Oval
Office, people will be invited to enjoy a cup of 7-Eleven
java and have their photos taken with their favorite candidate between
Sept. 6 and Nov. 6.
Purple
for
the
People
(P4P)
Slurpee
Drinks – The
beverage that was born during the mid-term 2010 elections is back in a
favorite nonpartisan flavor, vanilla. Red and blue makes purple, of
course, and this vanilla-flavor blend targets those who want to lower
the heat of the campaign. As the “peacemaker” choice, the P4P frozen
beverage is featured on the Slurpee Facebook page that offers
buy-one-get-one coupons that friends can send to stop a heated debate
or cool hot heads. Consider it an apolitical Brainfreeze® beverage. An
easy-to-use purple debate-blocker can be downloaded to offer a visual
cue that one is retreating from the political games-playing.
The
Onion – This cheeky news outlet
is popular with
those who don’t always take the news of the day too seriously. As the
sole sponsor of The Onion’s 2012 War for the White House coverage, 7-Eleven
will be popping up on The Onion’s website. Exclusive video content will
be featured on the 7-Election website as well.
7-Election
Website,
API
and
Social
Media
– The
7-Election website is buzzing with information including daily cup
counts nationally, by state and major markets … exclusive videos from
The Onion … free downloads like masks, flags and do-it-yourself
confetti … updates on the Mobile Oval Tour (see above) and more.
7-Eleven also has
developed its first open API
(application programming interface) and three plug-in widgets to make
the latest 7-Election cup results available to third-party mobile apps,
websites and digital media. The 7-Election API allows election
followers to check national, state and major market cup-voting results
on a variety of virtual locations.
Seeing
Stars – As if Blue and Red
coffee cups aren’t enough, 7-Eleven
also will debut fresh-baked-daily patriotic donuts. Look for the
star-shaped donuts with red or blue icing. They’re just for fun … and
deliciousness. Donuts do not count as votes in 7-Election.
About
7-Eleven, Inc.
7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain
in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven
operates, franchises or licenses approximately 9,400 7-Eleven®
stores in North America. Globally, there are some 47,600 7-Eleven
stores in 16 countries. During 2011, 7-Eleven stores
worldwide generated total sales close to $76.6 billion. 7-Eleven
has been honored by a number of companies and organizations recently.
Accolades include: #2 on Forbes magazine’s 2011 list of Top Franchises
for the Money; #3 spot on Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list
for 2012, #3 in Forbes magazine’s Top 20 Franchises to Start, and #2 in
Franchise Times Top 200 Franchise Companies. Hispanic Magazine named 7-Eleven
among its Hispanic Corporate Top 100 Companies that provide the most
opportunities to Hispanics. 7-Eleven received the 2010
Retailer of the Year honor from PL Buyer because of the company's
private-label brand initiative. 7-Eleven
is franchising its stores in the U.S. and expanding through organic
growth, acquisitions and its Business Conversion Program. Find out more
online at www.7-Eleven.com.
Contact:
7-Eleven, Inc.
Margaret Chabris