And the winner is...Starbucks!

by Tim Storey

I just voted at the venerable Wheat Ridge Presbyterian Church.  After feeding my ballot into the tabulation machine, the wonderful pollworker handed me an "I voted" sticker and told me to be certain to go to Starbucks to get my free cup of coffee. 

The little neighborhood Starbucks here in Wheat Ridge, Colorado is slammed!  They told me that they have given away hundreds of free cups of joe already, although I don't think they call it "joe" here at Starbucks.  They report that it is the busiest day they have ever had.  They literally had to call in barista reinforcements.  I'm not making this up. 

Now technically, they can't make you show the "I Voted" sticker to get the free cup.  That would equate to vote buying according to the election law curmudgeons.  I can report from the front lines that Starbucks employees in Wheat Ridge are actively flaunting the federal law and asking to see those "I Voted" stickers.  God bless them. 

The marketing mavens at Starbucks are brilliant.  They are getting astonishing foot traffic through their stores, and it seems like many folks shell out for that bargain priced pastry to go with the free cup...not to mention all the word-of-mouth chatter about America's little coffee shop empire that this little promotion is generating.

So, I'm calling it now.  The big winner in the 2008 election--Starbucks. 

Comments

[Nicole Casal Moore]

Yeah, my Starbucks line was longer than my voting line this morning!