Tim Hortons caught in double double dose of controversy
Posted June 5, 2015 7:22 am.
Last Updated June 5, 2015 9:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – When you think of Tim Hortons, it’s probably more about coffee than controversy, but the chain has brewed a double dose of backlash after airing and then pulling in-store ads for pipeline giant Enbridge.
Tim Hortons first stirred things up by running ads for the company behind the Northern Gateway project on Tims TV, its in-store screens and menu boards.
About 29,000 people signed an online petition asking Tim Hortons to yank the ads and cut ties with Enbridge, which it did.
That angered supporters of Canada’s oilsands industry, who started #BoycottTims on Twitter, which quickly trended across Canada.
Allison Johnson, a professor at Western University, says Tim Hortons should not have associated itself with such a divisive brand in the first place.
“It’s a pretty tone deaf move, frankly,” she tells the Canadian Press. “Having put these ads on in their stores, they were implicitly endorsing Enbridge.”
Enbridge says it enjoyed working with Tims, but it respects the decision.
Tim Hortons has declined to comment.
