Scandal at Tim Hortons

 
Every year at this time Tim Hortons runs a promotion called "Roll-up-the-rim." The idea is that you roll up the rim of the paper cup to reveal a prize. There are even special tools to make rolling up the rim easier [Roll Up the Rim]. (As you can see in the photos, you usually get to lose in two different languages.)

This year I only won a single free coffee whereas in previous years I won several cups and several free donuts. (In 1993 I won a stereo system.) I attributed this to bad luck.

Maybe not, according the Globe and Mail. There are lots of customers who think their wins are below the levels of previous years [Coffee junkies say it's a lean 'Roll Up the Rim' season]. Tim Hortons says your chances of winning should be one in nine. According to the article in the Globe and Mail, even Stuart McLean was disappointed that his crew didn't win more often.

For five of the eight weeks that Tim Hortons ran the promotion, CBC host Stuart McLean and his 12-member tour bus drove from Fort St. John, B.C., to Fargo, N.D., perhaps braking for more Hortons outlets than any other vehicle on the road during that period.

“We had logged about 8,000 kilometres on the Vinyl Cafe tour bus,” Mr. McLean, who doesn't drink coffee, later reflected on his show. “[We] made some new friends and rolled up enough rims to make you wonder if anyone ever wins anything.”

This is getting serious. Tim Hortons should not be making Stuart McLean upset [The Vinyl Cafe]. Before you know it, there will be a story about Dave and Morely at Tim Hortons and it won't be pretty watching two Canadian icons duke it out.

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[Hat Tip: Jane]