7-Eleven Invites Americans to Vote in 4th 7-Election Presidential Coffee Cup Poll FOX5

Politics Are Brewing at 7-Eleven Retailer Invites Americans to Vote in Fourth 7-Election™ Presidential Coffee Cup Poll DALLAS (Sept. 10, 2012) -- Every four years, some things happen like clockwork -- leap year, the summer and winter Olympic games, U.S. presidential elections, and with it, 7-Eleven®'s 7-Election™ Presidential Coffee Cup Poll. In past years, millions of everyday Americans have participated in the 7-Election vote as they go about their daily routines. While many states offer early voting that typically begins a few days before Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 6), the 2012 7-Election voting starts really early -- Thursday, Sept. 6. Billed as unabashedly unofficial and unscientific, 7-Election invites customers to vote by selecting specially marked coffee cups, blue for President Barack Obama and red for former Gov. Mitt Romney. 7-Eleven's regular "nonpartisan" cups are also available for undecided customers or those who would rather not publicize their presidential preference. Patriotic coffee-drinkers can vote at participating 7-Eleven stores as early and as often as they want in the two months leading up to the national election. 7-Election cups are instantly tabulated at the register when the sale is made. National, state and major market results will be posted daily on www.7-election.com, a website created especially for the coffee-cup poll. Poll tallies will reflect the percentage of candidate cups sold to date, not including 7-Eleven's regular ("undecided") cups. Participating 7-Eleven stores are encouraged to post their stores' latest race results at the hot beverage islands. "Each day, almost 7 million Americans visit our neighborhood stores on their way to work, after school or while they're out and about. Around 1 million of those purchase a cup of 7-Eleven coffee," said 7-Eleven, Inc. President and CEO Joe DePinto. "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." Since 2000, 7-Eleven "coffee cup-voters" have successfully predicted the winner in each presidential election, giving 7-Election a better track record than some well-known statistically valid polls. Past 7-Election results compared to actual vote tallies were: 2000 Election 7-Election U.S. Voters George W. Bush* 21 percent** 48.4 percent Al Gore 20 percent** 47.9 percent 2004 Election George W. Bush* 51 percent 50.7 percent John Kerry 49 percent 48.3 percent 2008 Election John McCain 46 percent 45.7 percent Barack Obama* 52 percent 52.9 percent *Elected. **In the 2000 7-Election, all cup sales, including unmarked "nonpartisan" cups, were tallied. In subsequent years, only the candidate cups were included in the results. 7-Eleven customers also will see the return of vanilla-flavored "Purple for the People" Slurpee® drinks at participating 7-Eleven stores, billed as a "peace-maker" beverage to unite the country. During the contentious mid-term 2010 elections, 7-Eleven created the unifying purple drink to symbolically unite the red and blue sides of the political spectrum. For more information about CIM Incorporated: Website: www.cimincorporated.com Email: [email protected] Facebook:   / cimincorporated   Work: 858.467.7990 # #