7-Election

Yesterday I walked into class with a cup of hot tea from 7-11 where my friend Tiffany greeted me, "You didn't vote!"

Bewildered, and confused, I had no idea what she was talking about. It was true, my Virginia absentee ballot was in fact sitting on my nightstand, but how did she know?

She sensed my follow-up question. "The cup. You didn't vote in the 7-11 election."

What is she talking about?, I thought.

She quickly explained the election, but to be completely honest with you I didn't get it. All I knew was there was some sort of voting action having to do with the cups.

Well, to the luck of my local 7-11, I awoke with a nagging sore throat for the third day in a row, which meant I sipped hot tea all day long. And since it's slightly lame and strange to carry around a Thermos around campus all day (not that I have one) and 7-11 is one block from the building housing all my classes, I made visit number two to the store in as many days.

Walking in the store I knew I had to do two things: secure a voting cup and make it back to class with I Love Lemon tea in hand in six minutes.

Thankfully I was a little less oblivious this time and was able to complete both tasks without a hitch.

At the "hot beverage bar" there's a seemingly endless parade of coffees (who knew? And Tiffany swears by the pumpkin spice flavor, by the way), but greeting the section is a bright red and blue promotional sign explaining how it works. Pretty simple if you aren't as spacey as me.

Pick red cup that says "McCain" on it to vote McCain. Pick blue cup that says "Obama" on it to vote Obama. Fill with hot beverage of your choice. Bring to counter. Purchase beverage. When beverage's bar code is scanned it adds your McCain or Obama vote to the tally, which can be followed at 7-election.com.


If you were wondering which color I picked, I'll give you two hints: it's my favorite color and is opposite of orange on the color wheel.

I commend your ability to solve that enigmatic riddle.

Not only are 7-11 hot beverages way cheaper than their Starbucks counterparts, but for the time being they are also infinitely more exciting. Not to mention, the packaging is really eye-catching and fun.

So get out there, save $2 on your next cup of coffee and get excited about the election!

Also, if you think the promotion is stupid, maybe you should read this info, which I found on the 7-11 site's "Fun Facts" section:

• In the 2000 7-Election, [the] George W. Bush cup outsold Al Gore's cup by just 1 percentage point.
  
  
• The 2004 7-Election results tracked exactly with published national election results: 51% for George W. Bush and 49% for John Kerry (within a few percentage points of actual poll results in many states!).
  

While I can't with certainty say that there is any truth to these facts (if a fact is "fun," must it also be fabricated?) it is at least interesting. With all the negative political ads going back and forth, I find the informal red vs. blue competition to be a lot more light-hearted.

So get off your lazy butts and drink and vote!

Crazy Candy IHOP Pancakes

So the other night I went out to dinner at IHOP, where I was greeted by a colorful, eye-catching sign advertising IHOP's new promotional menu to celebrate the Dr. Seuss movie, Horton Hears a Who. These types of signs generally don't get my attention, but I was immediately struck by the fact that IHOP was offering pancakes that looked like candy. Here's a quick view of what I mean:

When I got to my table to scan the menu for strawberry waffles and hashbrowns I came across a laminated insert where I saw these candy-looking pancakes again. They were baffling. Who would order these? What on earth would candy pancakes taste like? I couldn't believe they put a lollipop through the pancakes stack! I was intrigued.

I browsed the menu and found out these so-called "Who-Cakes" are actually are made of astonishingly normal ingredients, despite their appearance. It was just a stack of four pancakes, covered with boysenberry and blueberry syrups and covered with rainbow chocolate chips. Granted the lollipop toothpick was a little bizarre, but who doesn't enjoy a piece of candy or a mint to tie up a meal?

The menu also featured a famous Dr. Seuss favorite, Green Eggs and Ham. If these weren't enough, they also had a special drink concoction you could order in order to wash it all down with: Beezlenut Splash. The Beezlenut Splash was simply lemon-lime soda (I assume Sprite) with red and blue Jello cubes interspersed throughout. Crazy! The drink was only $2 and you could get all-you-can-drink refills.

Needless to say, as a child trapped in a twenty-something's body, I am completely psyched about this whole Horton promotion. I am in the process of recruiting people for an IHOP and movie doubleheader. The movie features Jim Carrey, Steve Carell (of my beloved The Office), Will Arnett (from Arrested Development), and his wife, Amy Poehler (of SNL). Pretty awesome cast, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more excited about the prospect of partaking in these Who-Cakes.

In other news, The Office returns in a mere week! Jim Halpert, how my weeks have longed for your return...

Pictures source: IHOP website, http://www.ihop.com/