DALLAS -- Today, 7-Eleven Inc. is kicking off its third quadrennial 7-Election presidential coffee cup poll. "Unabashedly unscientific," the "just-for-fun" poll has proven remarkably accurate in elections past, with results closely mirroring the official surveys by the country's top political pollsters. In the first 7-Election in 2000, only 1 percentage point separated the cup-counts of now-president George Bush and Democratic nominee Al Gore. Likewise in 2004, President Bush out-cupped Senator John Kerry, 51% to 49%.
During this promotion that runs through Tuesday, November 4 (Election [image-nocss] Day), 7-Eleven said that it is inviting customers to pour their favorite hot beverage into either a red 20-oz. cup for Republican nominee Sen. John McCain or a blue 20-oz. cup for Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama and cast their vote via cup choice for their preferred candidate. The colored cups also have the candidates' names printed on them. Undecided customers need not choose sides – "unmarked" 7-Eleven hot beverage cups will still be available as well as a bipartisan red, white and blue Big Gulp fountain drink cups featuring both the donkey and elephant party symbols.
"Customers may vote as often as they wish, although they may want to switch to decaf after a few cups," the retailer said.
"When 7-Eleven held its first 7-Election eight years ago, we had no idea what the final results would be or how popular the cup poll would become," said 7-Eleven president and CEO Joe DePinto. "While we don't bill this as a statistically valid study by any means, it does reach Americans in their hometowns, on their way to work, after school or just going about their everyday lives. 7-Election provides an interesting daily snapshot of the election."
7-Election cups are instantly tabulated at the register when the sale is made. National and state results will be posted daily on www.7-election.com, a website created for the coffee cup poll. Major market area and store results are also available upon request.
Poll tallies will reflect the percentage of candidate cups sold to date, not including "undecided," i.e., regular 7-Eleven logo cups. Participating 7-Eleven stores are being encouraged to post the latest race results at their coffee islands.
"7-Election is a warmup for the real election on November 4," DePinto said. "While awareness of this presidential election hardly needs to be raised, 7-Eleven is providing a not-so-subtle daily reminder to its citizen-customers about the importance of voting. Candidates might want to pay attention to this great coffee electorate, and even stop by a local 7-Eleven store to campaign or grab a great cup of coffee."
Dallas-based 7‑Eleven operates, franchises or licenses approximately 7,600 7-Eleven stores in North America.
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