Can We Rrreduce, Rrreuse And Rrrecycle While Rrrolling Up The Rim?

I've long been a fan of Tim Hortons as well as their Rrroll Up The Rim To Win contest, which allows a coffee purchase to be turned into a chance to win some fun prizes.

But, as pointed out interestingly in a blog post I found from 2007 called Rrrollup the Rim - Making Litterers Out of Losers? is that simply adding to litter?  There was also an interesting article on Sympatico's website this morning by Daniela Syrovy and Greg Bolton that caught my eye that talks about the litter cups. As evidenced in the picture accompanying the article (of a cup with the winning piece torn out from it left abandoned in a snow covered street) it's the winners as much as the losers who are littering.

I don't think we should be blaming Tim Hortons for littering. People, as they are often not want to do, need to take responsibility for their own behaviour. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of the complete lack of respect, of the complete lack of responsibility the average person takes for their own behaviour. It's always People need to stop just throwing their crap everywhere and expecting someone else to pick it up, or someone else to take responsibility for it.


However, that being said, given how greedy and selfish our society has become, Tim Hortons could appeal to this narcissistic nature of people rather than try to appeal to whatever it is that causes the folks who do not litter to do the right thing.

Last year on this blog, I suggested a manner by which Tim Hortons could possibly work with someone on developing an app for smart phones that would allow people to use their reusable coffee container and not only get a discount on their coffee, but allow them to play the exciting contest.

Remember that right now, if you take your travel mug to Tim Hortons and order a coffee, you get the discount on your purchase, but then they also give you an empty cup so you don't miss your chance to win. Nice "customer benefit" gesture for Tim Hortons. But not so nice for the extra trash created, which undoes the "good" of the person bringing a reusable cup in the first place.

My suggestion was called Roll Up On Your RIM To Win and I still think it's possible, either for a company like RIM or someone else. (Ideally, the tie-in between the makers of Blackberry and Tim Hortons could be pretty huge -- even if Research in Motion were to create an app for iPhones and Adroids, the "name" of the app/promotion could still be Roll Up on Your RIM, giving Blackberry and other RIM offerings more exposure.....at least the way I look at it. I challenge you to try to find a Canadian out there who is NOT familiar with "RRROLL UP THE RIM."  Talk about a broad marketing campaign that is as Canadian as "apple pie" is American.

The basic premise is, Tim Hortons continues with their cups, but adds in a manner by which a person with a smartphone app and a reusable cup gets TWO entries into the contest instead of one, simply by opting for the "greener" non-litter choice.

I still think it's a good idea, and am hoping that someone who is a lot smarter than me takes the idea and makes it happen.  Seriously, go ahead, please just steal the idea, I'm never going to be able to do anything with it. Just make something like this happen. Please. I wonèt come after you claiming it was my idea in the first place (although attribution is always the right thing to do) -- I might, however, ask you to at least buy me a double-double at Timmies.