THUMBS DOWN ON NEW ‘ROLL UP THE RIM’ APP

For 35 years, Canadian coffee drinkers have looked forward to the annual Tim Hortons’ “Roll Up The Rim” contest. TV ads lured us with the possibility of winning a new car, but we were realistic enough to hope that there might be a free donut or a free coffee in our future.

The 2021 campaign runs from March 11 to April 7, instead of the longer 10 weeks in past years.

But the big change is in how you actually win those prizes. There is no actual physical rolling up the rim this year. There is an app for that. You go to the app store and download the app.

Do the “big guns” at head office actually think that everyone in Canada has a smart phone in their pocket?

I see seniors all the time using a simple flip phone so that they can be in touch with family and friends. Then there are the children that would drop for a hot chocolate and a donut with their friends. The older version of the contest added a bit of excitement at the end of their Tim’s visit. Why does this have to be taken away from them? Add to this list the vulnerable people in our communities who are living in poverty and the homeless on our streets. These segments of our population have very few treats in their lives. They will never go to Florida for a vacation or have a meal in a fancy restaurant. A trip to Tim’s for a cup of coffee and a donut is their treat and now Tim’s is depriving them of that little bit of excitement as the end of their visit.

Whoever made this decision was probably gathered around a fancy boardroom in Toronto, with their smart phones on the table in front of them. Did they not think that many segments of the Canadian population do not live the same way as they do?

On behalf of the seniors with their flip phones, our young children, the homeless and the people living in poverty, I just want to ask the management of Tim Hortons one thing: What were you thinking?

Yvonne Kennedy Homeville