7-Eleven Tracks Presidential Election With Coffee Sales
Following a tradition they started in 2000, 7-Eleven stores are running their own unofficial presidential poll. Customers that order their java from now until the election will be faced with a question and three choices; The question is what cup they want their coffee in - a red Romney cup or a blue Obama cup. Undecided customers can vote to choose a purple cup that contains a vanilla-flavored Slurpee.
The promotion, dubbed "7-Election 2012," isn't exactly scientific. Yet in past presidential election years, the coffee cup poll has proven accurate. A breakdown of previous percolated predictions: In 2000, George W. Bush received 21 percent of the 7-Election votes; Al Gore received 20 percent (the non-partisan cups were also part of the counting). The one percent difference reflected the country's final official tabulation, with Bush beating Gore by less than one percent. In 2004, George W. took on John Kerry. In the 7-Election Bush came out on top with 51 percent, and in the U.S. election, Bush received 50.7 percent of Americans' votes. In 2008, Barack Obama received 52 percent of the 7-Election votes (52.9 percent of the U.S. votes) while John McCain received 46 percent (45.7 percent of the U.S. votes).
There are nearly 9,000 7-Eleven locations throughout the United States and research says that 25-percent of the population lives within one mile of one of the 24-hour locations.