Today I'm blogging on behalf of some very disgruntled coffee (and tea) lovers close to my heart. I think anyone who knows me knows I'm a little bit of a coffee snob, okay maybe a BIG coffee snob. Needless to say my experience with Canada's ubiquitous blue-collar coffee and donut chain has been limited to an occasional French 'this is the only possible option' Vanilla in cottage country. Even though I don't frequent the country's beloved Timmies its been hard to ignore the buzz (get it? coffee..buzz) this week over the increased prices on everything from tea to timbits. And even though 5 cents here and 10 cents there might not seem like a big deal, for those who love their caffeine routine the extra pennies are sure to add up. And in a year when Starbucks, every yuppie's favourite overpriced coffee mecca, has actually been lowering prices its hard to believe that their not so snobby competitor needs to fall back on the 'harsh economic times' excuse for their price jacking.
While some may try and start their own personal boycott over a 7 cent difference, I'm sure many customers will simply grumble and get over it, with the excuse that 'they'd rather support a homegrown company.' Now, people claiming that they are being 'patriot' by going to Tim Hortons is a personal pet peeve of mine, so indulge my ranting here for a bit. While advertisements featuring ice skating kids and phrases like 'double double' and 'roll up the rim' seem like such an integral part of Canadian identity, the coffee shop was actually bought by an American company in 1995. So why not take your precious toonies and wander over to the 100% Canadian Second Cup, where the coffee is ten times more flavourful and there have never been any of those scary nicotine rumours.
While some may try and start their own personal boycott over a 7 cent difference, I'm sure many customers will simply grumble and get over it, with the excuse that 'they'd rather support a homegrown company.' Now, people claiming that they are being 'patriot' by going to Tim Hortons is a personal pet peeve of mine, so indulge my ranting here for a bit. While advertisements featuring ice skating kids and phrases like 'double double' and 'roll up the rim' seem like such an integral part of Canadian identity, the coffee shop was actually bought by an American company in 1995. So why not take your precious toonies and wander over to the 100% Canadian Second Cup, where the coffee is ten times more flavourful and there have never been any of those scary nicotine rumours.
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Well said!
ReplyDeleteand thank you for making my work day more enjoyable!
hmmm. yes, i say go for second cup.... but who can complain. a regular coffee here is almost 3 dollars!!!
ReplyDeleteI was soo mad at tim hortons yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHighway robbery
BOYCOTT!
ReplyDeleteNapes <3 ya for discussing this issue
It's been 2 days since Tims for me .. 2 days and counting!
I once heard Tim Horton's compared to a religion... complete with a Christ-like mediator:
ReplyDeleteThe mediator of the old religion (hockey), split out from his old religion and started the new one (Tim Horton's). Even today, many temples rise up from the earth, and the worshippers make many pilgramages, sometimes every day! They enter the temple and approach the shrine, where they lay their offering before the priestess (or priest if it's a guy). The priestess then goes to the altar, and receives a blessing from the caffeine god, which she carries back to the worshipper, who will then engage in the act of worship (drink the coffee), and will usually tithe to (tip) the priestess.
I always thought that was cute. Go TIMMIES!!