Dallas-based 7-Eleven is bringing back its presidential coffee cup promotion – the same program whose results closely mirrored the actual results from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The program begins at 7-Eleven stores on Wednesday and ends on Nov. 4, Election Day. 7-Eleven customers can cast their c-store vote by filling a hot beverage cup whose color corresponds to their presidential pick.
Republican nominee Sen. John McCain gets red cups, while Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama gets blue cups. Customers who abstain or remain undecided – but still in need of a caffeine fix – can fill up a regular 7-Eleven cup, the newspaper said.
The 7-Election program has attracted 6 million voters each election, the newspaper said, and the company expects at least that many this year. The retailer said past interim results closely mirrored the official surveys by the country’s top political pollsters.
The Dallas Morning News reported, for instance, that 7-Eleven’s cup counts predicted President Bush’s close win against Democratic nominee Al Gore in 2000, as well as a similar prediction in 2004 when Bush out-cupped Sen. John Kerry by 51% to 49%.
7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto said the company doesn’t bill the poll as scientific, but his stores do reach regular Americans "just going about their everyday lives."
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 Web site created for the hot beverage poll.
7-Eleven said coffee is a nonpartisan beverage choice that was named the national beverage by the First Continental Congress after the Boston Tea Party.
