Food

Tim Hortons pulls Enbridge ads, Internet demands #BoycottTims

by Miranda Nelson on June 4th, 2015 at 1:53 PM
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      Angry Twitter users are demanding a boycott of Tim Hortons after the iconic coffee chain decided to pull advertisments for Enbridge from its in-store televisions.

      Tim Hortons removed the ads from 1,500 Canadian locations after many complaints, including from consumer group SumOfUs, which launched an online petition asking the company to stop "shilling tar sands" in its stores. 

      But because we can't have nice things like a general respect for the environment or non-angry conservatives, an anti-anti-Enbridge campaign has popped up online, encouraging people to now boycott Tim Hortons.

      Yes, that's right: citizens are demanding a boycott of a corporation for not running advertisements from a different corporation because obviously if you are anti-tar sands, you are anti-Canadian.

      (These folks do realize Tim Hortons ceased being a Canadian company awhile ago, yeah? Oh wait. They do.)

      Maybe it's just collusion!

      Calgary Centre North MP Michelle Rempel has tweeted her support of the boycott, although no one has accused her of colluding with Enbridge because of that.

      According to Enbridge spokesman Graham White, there is no ill-will between the two companies: “We have enjoyed working with Tim Horton’s and respect their decision.”

      In closing, I leave you with this thought from Twitter user :

      Sounds about right.

      Comments

      19 Comments

      ursa minor

      Jun 4, 2015 at 3:22pm

      Smart businesses don't let controversy with secondary sources of revenue interfere with their main product. Cineplex also seems to have got the message after audiences reacted negatively to Tar Sands propaganda they tried to screen before movies.

      Of course in the minds of Team Harper Petrothugs, anyone who isn't explicitly for them is against them.

      Jon Q. Publik

      Jun 4, 2015 at 3:32pm

      This is a real case of first world problems - honestly do the vast majority of Tim Horton customers really care about what is being advertised on screens at their local dispensary of black "coffee" like liquid when they are still in their zombified state? I believe a resounding NO is the answer.

      Non Sense

      Jun 4, 2015 at 3:57pm

      It's not the fact they pulled the ads that is pissing people off. That is there choice as a company. It is that they did it as a result of a few Eco Tards telling them (from their Mom's basement of course) they were going to boycott Tim Horton's if they did not pull the ads. So which is it folks...it is OK to boycott Tim's when you are against Enbridge, but not OK to boycott Tim's when you support Enbridge? You people make me laugh....did any of you actually see the ads?

      Beatnuck

      Jun 4, 2015 at 4:56pm

      Glad to hear right-wingers want to boycott Tim's. But this is for the wrong reason. How about boycotting them because they hire foreign workers? That is way more un-Canadian than wanting to protect the environment!

      Beatnuck

      Jun 4, 2015 at 4:59pm

      Those ads are equivalent to Greenpeace ads featuring a smiling David Suzuki.

      freddy farmer

      Jun 4, 2015 at 7:02pm

      tim looked so sad when he rolled up the rim and caved when he
      realized all the customers he could have saved.

      theyre not Canadian anymore

      Jun 4, 2015 at 10:07pm

      C'mon people, let your voice be heard and buy your daily coffee at an independent coffee shop. Or at least at a much smaller chain.

      Wake up!

      Jun 4, 2015 at 10:37pm

      It is not tar-sands, it is oil-sands. Tar is a thick liquid distilled from coal or wood. It is oil mixed with sand, not tar.

      Martin Dunphy

      Jun 4, 2015 at 11:19pm

      Wake up!:

      The following is from Little Black Lies (2012), by Jeff Gailus:

      The oil industry and the Alberta and federal governments prefer the term “oil sands,” while most opponents use the dirtier-sounding “tar sands.” Technically, both “tar sands” and “oil sands” are inaccurate. The substance in question is actually bituminous sand, a mixture of sand, clay, water and an extremely viscous form of petroleum called bitumen, which itself contains a noxious combination of sulphur, nitrogen, salts, carcinogens, heavy metals and other toxins. A handful of bituminous sand is the hydrocarbon equivalent of a snowball: each grain of sand is covered by a thin layer of water, all of which is enveloped in the very viscous, tar-like bitumen. In its natural state, it has the consistency of a hockey puck.
      You might be forgiven for believing that the term has been foisted upon us by nasty, truth-hating environmentalists – but you’d be wrong. The term has actually been part of the oil industry lexicon for decades, used by geologists and engineers since at least 1939. According to Alberta oil historian David Finch, everyone called them the tar sands until the 1960s, and both “tar sands” and “oil sands” were used interchangeably until about 10 years ago, when the terminology became horribly politicized.

      Yet...

      Jun 4, 2015 at 11:52pm

      How do these people think grocery's get brought to their stores and coffee and donuts to their tim hortons? On unicorns that run off of rainbows and fairydust?

      They won't boycott their morning Tim Horton's coffee because they prefer being ignorant to the fact that their comfy lifestyles is supported by petroleum.

      But when a commercial comes on that outright promotes the tar sands... #boycott t.

      How about your demand for coffee is promoting demand for the tarsands?

      O, oh thats ok because its pleasing you and its not in the open. Its hidden under the supply chain so you don't have to think about it.

      Congrats environmental green people- your a joke!