Wednesday, March 15, 2006

 

Roll up the rim to LOSE!



Tim Horton's is doing their usual spring ritual. For those of you who may not be familiar with Tim Horton's, they are a Canadian institution. It started out in 1964 with one little coffee & donut shop opened by the famous hockey player of the same name and his business partner. They went on to spread wider than Paris Hilton after a six pack of Zima. In most Canadian towns you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Timmy's. They were bought out a few years back by Wendy's, and soon Timmy's stocks will be available on the public market. They are making their way into the U.S., so it's hard to say where they go from there. Actually, there has been talk about building one in Kandahar so the Canadian troops feel more at home. But I digress.

Here in Canada, you know spring is around the corner when you see Timmy's Roll Up The Rim To Win cups littering the streets and parking lots within a six block radius of one of their outlets. Like I said, these shops are everywhere, so your odds of seeing one of their discarded paper cups blowing around in the wind are pretty good. The idea of the promotion is that hidden beneath the rim of their paper cups could be any of a number of prizes. Free coffee, muffins, bagels, donuts, barbecues, $1000.00, plasma TVs, or even a Toyota RAV4 SUV. There is actually a court battle going on in Quebec right now because a ten year old girl found a cup in a garbage can, asked a friend to help her roll up the rim because her little fingers couldn't do it, and there was the Toyota! The parents of both children are suing each other claiming they should get to keep the SUV. There is even another person suing both of them claiming that the cup that the girls found in the garbage was hers! Too fucking much! But again, I digress.

The promotion has been going on for nearly three weeks, and even though I hit the Timmy's drive-thru every freaking morning (and quite often a second time later in the day) I haven't won a damned thing! Seriously though, I have probably had at least 30 of those cups in my possession, and all I ever see under that rim is "Please Play Again". It's really become quite the routine. Get in the car, drive toward work, make a pit stop at Timmy's, get to work, scald my tongue, get tied up with customers as soon as I open the door, an hour and a half later I get back to my coffee which is now quite cold. I can't reheat it because I usually get an extra large coffee, and the damned cup is too tall to fit in the microwave. So I chug it cold and tell myself it's actually a five dollar iced coffee. Whatever gets me through the day. I rip off the plastic lid, roll up the rim and there it is. "Please Play Again".

OK, I can take not winning anything. Not even a freaking cookie! But what really chaps my ass is The Squeeze has been winning non-stop since this thing began. I'm really beginning to think that this is some kind of conspiracy. The Squeeze has won countless coffees, and I'm sure he's got a few tabs with cookies or donuts too. A few days back he brought me a coffee at work, and after I finished that, I rolled it up, and finally there was a free coffee. The problem is, I'm still pissed because technically I didn't buy that cup of coffee. It belongs to The Squeeze. (Please note however, that if it were a larger prize like the cash, the tv, or the SUV, I would certainly lay claim to it. So figure that one out!)

Now, The Squeeze is on the road a lot for his job, and he pretty much navigates by Tim Horton's, so he stops at one a few times a day. Today was a short day for him, so when he finished work he stopped in at my store for a visit. As he was leaving to run some errands, I asked if he wouldn't mind grabbing me a coffee and swinging back by the shop. He returned with the coffee and told me that he just rolled up the rim on a cup that was still sitting in his truck from earlier in the day and he won another coffee.

Today he won not one, not two, but three coffees! Guess what? When I rolled up the rim on the cup he brought me.........it said "Please Play Again".

Why is this driving me nuts??? I just want to win ONE thing. I'd be happy with a donut...a cookie...anything. I'm a regular customer. I'm not just some Johnny-come-lately hopping on the bandwagon hoping to win a prize when I never go to Timmy's on any other day. I'm loyal, baby! The frustration is just biting at my ass. I can feel my blood pressure rise when I think about this.

I'm wondering if the caffeine has anything to do with it.

Comments:
Does Squeeze buy from the same Tim's as you? We've had Tim's in Detroit for quite some time now, and of course, we get CBC, so we all know the Rrrrrroll up the Rrrrrrrim to Win commercial quite well.

Maybe you need to buy from a different Tim's?
 
No, he's on the road all over the place, so he gets them at different places. I get mine (the losers) from the same place a couple of blocks from work every day.
I have a cup on the go right now (kinda sucks today). I'm going to be a rebel and roll up that stinkin' rim before I finish it...here we go....
ya....the record stands.
Tim Horton shares went on the public market today. I think they're going for around $27 CAN per share if I'm not mistaken. I thought it might be fun to have a share, but I've heard you need to buy a minimum of 100 shares.
The Squeeze thinks it's not going to be a good stock. He thinks it's going to tank. We'll see. Either way, it won't affect me.
 
If you had bought early in the day and then sold it immediately you could have made some money because by the time the market closed that night the price was back down to just above the original selling price.
 
re "Roll up the rim to LOSE!":

I only bought one single Tim Hortons coffee during the entire RUTR promotion - and it was a winner.

Hee hee! Sucker!
 
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