The 7-Eleven convenience store chain is encouraging its patrons to make a political statement with their coffee.
Called 7-Election 2000, the promotion encourages participation in the upcoming presidential election.
Customers now have the opportunity to select a 20-ounce Bush or Gore Styrofoam cup for their favorite hot beverage. The red, white and blue cups proclaim the candidate of choice, either George W. Bush or Al Gore.
Third-party and undecided voters can use the classic 7-Eleven cups. These will be tallied using 7-Eleven’s state-of-the-art retail information system. Results of the coffee cup poll will be updated daily and posted on the company’s Web site (www.7-eleven.com).
The goal for 7-Eleven is to increase coffee consumption and, more importantly, voter turnout in November.
“We want to get out the vote, both in our coffee cup poll and in the presidential election this November,” said Ronnie Volkening, government affairs manager for the chain. “7-Eleven has a unique opportunity to remind and encourage millions of Americans both to register and to vote in this first presidential election of the millennium.”
To further this patriotic cause, 7-Eleven is registering voters at participating stores and on their Web site.
The chain, which sells about 1 million cups of coffee daily, expects more than 30 million participants in the coffee cup poll, and countless more who will see the cups at work.
“7-Eleven reaches everyday Americans where they live and work,” said Alan Beach, the company’s category manager for hot beverages. “While the 7-Election 2000 poll isn’t scientific, it will give millions of Americans an opportunity to voice their opinions.”
Current figures for the nation as of Sept. 12 put Gore and Bush at a dead heat with 19 percentage points each. As many as 62 percent of 7-Eleven coffee drinkers were undecided or will vote for a third-party candidate.
