To add your name to petition, click here to leave us your name, leave your email and a message if you wish. It’s become a Canadian tradition, an event that contest and coffee lovers alike look forward to every year to get them through the last stretch of the winter blahs. Rrrrrolll up the rrrrrrrrim to win! There have been many imitators but for some reason the under-the-coffee-cup-lip contest has been a Tim Horton’s success story through and through, and has helped cement them into the Canadian way of life. But this successful contest has a dark little secret (that isn’t actually a secret at all but everyone turns a blind eye) and I was awakened to it, the other day when I strolled into a Timmy’s for the first time in a long time, somewhere along Hwy 17 in northern Ontario. I Ordered a couple of coffees and handed the friendly clerk a pair of travel mugs only to be handed back the mugs full of steaming coffee and a couple of empty, waxed-cardboard coffee cups. I must admit that I wondered if this time my eco-consciousness was getting between me and a million bucks as I convinced the friendly clerk to put those unused, potential gold-mines back under the counter for the next hopeful customer. As I walked back to my car I started thinking about this extremely popular contest and how it’s perpetuating wastefulness! This is made clear by a quick glance on any sidewalk or in any road-side ditch this time of year, because there's usually a red Tim Horton's coffee cup there to remind you that you could, at this very moment, be rolling up a rim to win! The point is NOT that Tim Horton's is encouraging people to litter in fact they tell customers not to on their disposable cups. The point is, that no green option exists if you want to participate in this contest. There is a huge opportunity here for Tim Horton’s to change this contest to encourage green living thereby becoming a Canadian leader in mainstream environmentalism and significantly greening their public image. It makes sense for the planet and it makes sense for business! The way the contest is set up now, people who would usually use a travel-mug or a ceramic mug to save a waxed-cardboard cup are dissuaded to do so and are given a small but tough decision to make; accept the empty cup for a chance to win great prizes or refuse the cup and be punished for being environmentally responsible. In a society in such dire straights as ours, these kinds of choices shouldn’t have to be made. An effort was made to get an interview from the good people at Tim Horton’s but none was made available. That being the case, I can only propose logical assumptions for why Tim Horton’s hasn’t seen fit to update this wasteful contest. 1. Those red cups are also advertising tools. Yes, the power of suggestion is very strong and if Tim Horton’s lessened the amount of enticing red cups in circulation, their sales might be affected. Then again, making all those flashy cups costs a pretty penny and the money saved by a change in strategy would be nothing to sneeze at. 2. The catchy ‘Rrroll up the Rrrim’ name, which certainly has something to do with the success of the contest, might be in jeopardy if the contest no longer requires one to roll up said rim to win. So what, times change, deal with it! Bottom line is this contest doesn’t belong in the sustainable society we strive for. For Tim Horton’s, the time has come to embrace change. We’re not proposing they change the name of the contest or even discontinue making flashy ad-cups. All we want to see is an alternative to wasting a cup for a chance to participate in the contest. Like little scratch tickets (made of post-consumer paper), or contest codes for playing online. Hey while you’re at it, take it a little further; give these sustainable options more odds to win and give Canadians a further incentive to start and continue making green choices in their lives. Tim… I know you’ve grown very comfortable with your success and status here in Canada, And I know with that position there comes a lot of pressure and responsibility but listen; your people love you! They’ll follow you wherever you go they’re addicted to your caffeine and baked goods! Your people want to go Green and they need a leader to show them the way. You can do it Tim, and we’re all behind you! Spread the word about this to every Canadian Tim's fan you know! To add your name to petition, click here. Leave us your name, leave your email and a message if you wish. (list updated every day). |