Convenience store giant 7-Eleven is the first to admit that its 1M person-per-day poll is not scientific and is beyond any doubt unofficial. But its offer to allow people to vote by drinking coffee out of a container touting the candidate of their own choice made accurate election predictions in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
According to the store, which is active in the election via its own website and via a partnership with satirical web-based print and video producer The Onion, seven million Americans visit one of their stores, and one million buy coffee while there.
Starting this month, they may buy a large serving of coffee in either a Barack Obama or a Mitt Romney container and thus cast their unofficial vote. Those who are undecided or who wish to keep their vote to themselves may still opt for a neutral regular 7-Eleven container.
President and CEO Joe DePinto said, “While we have never billed 7-Election as scientific or statistically valid, it is astounding just how accurate this simple count-the-cups poll has been – election after election. We have had a lot of fun with it, and I hope we have encouraged people how important it is to vote in the real election.”
The contest selected George W. Bush over Al Gore, but the tallying method in use was different, making the results incomparable to the general election results.
However, in 2004 it was George W. Bush 51%, John Kerry 49% at 7-Eleven, and 50.7%-48.3% in real life.
In 2008, it was Barack Obama 52%, John McCain 46% at 7-Eleven, and 52.9%-45.7% in real life.
RBR-TVBR observation: This may be a great way to have some broadcast fun with 7-Eleven if it is one of your local clients. And if it isn’t one of your local clients, it may be a great way to make it a client and have some broadcast fun with it.
