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_DictionaryGirl_

_DictionaryGirl_

NEWSWIRE

San Diego, CA

JUL 03, 2007 07:58 AM



Yet another story from the low-culture, oddities-of-advertising front: art imitates life, life imitates art, and sometimes they just all kind of slosh together in a PR frenzy. In a move that is either crazy desperation or cross-marketing genius, certain 7-Eleven convenience stores across the U.S. are metamorphosing into one big giant living caricature of themselves: the immortal Kwik-E-Mart.

Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of "The Simpsons" fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.

Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees.



Interesting, interesting. This is being done, of course, to coincide with the late-July premiere of The Simpsons Movie. It's a tactic called "reverse product placement," apparently, and it's all very meta: the convenience store chain is hoping that, by showing that they can gamely make fun of themselves, they can boost interest in themselves as a real store, while at the same time selling more throughout the month-long promotion by touting their real product as something that only exists in the imaginations of a decade's worth of obsessives. Something like those awful Harry Potter jellybeans, only tasting decidedly less of earwax and vomit. (Well, hopefully, anyway--it is still convenience store food, after all.)

Not that the whole thing is totally fun-and-games and without conflict, of course. It's easy to make fun of yourself with a box of Malt-O-Meal relabeled KrustyOs, but when it comes to peoples' impressions of that certain Kwik-E-Mart employee so dear to our hearts, it's can be somewhat of a touchy subject.

The promotion, however, is not risk-free. The proprietor of Kwik-E-Mart is a man named Apu who speaks in a heavy Indian accent. He is based on a manager Groening encountered while shopping at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago and plays to stereotypes about convenience-store operators and Asian immigrants.

Many of 7-Eleven's franchisees are Indian, company officials say, although they say they don't track exact numbers. Bargerhuff said they were "overwhelmingly positive" after hearing of the Kwik-E-Mart idea, but "it was not a 100 percent endorsement."

"There was definitely a concern of offending people," she said. "But they seemed to understand that 'The Simpsons' makes fun of everybody. The vast majority saw this as a great opportunity."



I'm pretty curious about whether existing employees had anything to do with the chain's decisions on which locations would get the full Kwik-E-Mart treatment, but I doubt they'll have tracked it.

I do think it's cool that things didn't get bogged down in an overly-PC spirit in that respect, as that would be pretty much antithetical to the whole oeuvre of the show. There is a single concession, however, that they had to make, and it's a sad one.

But [customers] won't find Duff beer, the brand chugged by Homer Simpson. The movie will be rated PG-13, and selling a Simpson-themed beer "didn't seem to fit," said Rita Bargerhuff, a 7-Eleven marketing executive. "That was a tough call, but we want to make sure it's considered good, responsible fun."



Lame, Bargerhuff, lame. Well, I suppose you can't have everything, even in the land of semi-make-believe.


_DictionaryGirl_'s computer is finally back from the "repair depot," and while it's still pretty broken, she's a little less grumpy now and can finally return to her regularly somewhat-scheduled writing. Yay!

Crissis

Crissis

Ecuador
January 2007

JUL 03, 2007 11:20 AM

wow that must be fun to see, hope you find Apu on a store near you too
damn i want duff beer

ERockett

ERockett

Bainbridge Island, WA
June 2007

JUL 03, 2007 11:23 AM

I must say I fell for the Kwik-E mart scheme...
But what can I say getting a can of Buzz Cola (Which tasted rather odd) and getting a squishee seriously made my life haha.

The only bummer is they didnt sell Duff beer.

erratic_prophet

erratic_prophet

San Diego, CA
December 2006

JUL 03, 2007 11:23 AM

http://flickr.com/photos/rdr07/sets/72157600590001691

Here's a bunch of pictures for one of them. I didn't take them, but thought it was pretty cool.

PreSchoolGGW

PreSchoolGGW

Manassas, VA
April 2007

JUL 03, 2007 11:24 AM

Beat me to it, I was gonna say, I don't even drink beer and I want to buy a six-pack of Duff just to have it.

TAFKASP

TAFKASP

Oakland, CA
June 2003

JUL 03, 2007 11:25 AM

I loved it!

meatpieboy

meatpieboy

Korea, D.P.R.
June 2004

JUL 03, 2007 11:28 AM

WTF no Duff????

Admiral_Pants

Admiral_Pants

Austin, TX
May 2004

JUL 03, 2007 11:48 AM

I can't get enough of that wonderful Duff. frown

punkinfanta

punkinfanta

Burbank, CA
March 2004

JUL 03, 2007 11:54 AM

there is a kwik e mart near my house is burbank, ca. personally, i think it's a fun idea. also, @ hot topic we sell duff beer (but it's an energy drink) and flaming moes (also an energy drink) :-)

legman

legman

Portland, OR
February 2006

JUL 03, 2007 12:03 PM

each store should have it's own Apu! biggrin

"Thank you! Please come again!"

LuLu

LuLu

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

JUL 03, 2007 12:14 PM

Im gonna hit up the Mountain View location today, this is the most awesome thing ever!

TAFKASP

TAFKASP

Oakland, CA
June 2003

JUL 03, 2007 12:36 PM

LuLu said:
Im gonna hit up the Mountain View location today, this is the most awesome thing ever!



+1000

i'm gonna try and go down there this weekend. hopefully they don't sell out of Buzz cola and Krusty-Os

this is all bringing me one step closer to my dream of living in a cartoon and being a Simpsons character. biggrin

DeadBilly

DeadBilly

Burnt Cabins, PA
February 2004

JUL 03, 2007 12:49 PM

I wonder if potential robbers will dress up like Snake?

DickieV

DickieV

Henderson, NV
February 2003

JUL 03, 2007 12:51 PM

There is one a couple of miles from my house. I'm gonna go pick up a squishy on the way home.

robotron3000

robotron3000

Clinton Township, MI
May 2006

JUL 03, 2007 01:19 PM

I hope they did this with the local 7-11s here. I haven't really checked yet.

TAFKASP

TAFKASP

Oakland, CA
June 2003

JUL 03, 2007 01:23 PM

robotron3000 said:
I hope they did this with the local 7-11s here. I haven't really checked yet.



Locate a Kwik-E-Mart

womperjaw

womperjaw

Dallas, TX
November 2004

JUL 03, 2007 01:52 PM

Bollocks! The only Kwik-E-Mart I could find around here is way over in the douchebag-yuppie part of town! Bastards! They couldn't do the 7-11 that's two blocks from my house? And no Duff? I don't even drink and I think thats fucked up!

DCruz

DCruz

Montreal-nord, QC
November 2006

JUL 03, 2007 02:03 PM

erratic_prophet said:
http://flickr.com/photos/rdr07/sets/72157600590001691

Here's a bunch of pictures for one of them. I didn't take them, but thought it was pretty cool.



it does look pretty cool... and am I the only one to think those sprinkle donuts look delicious ? tongue

LuLu

LuLu

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

JUL 03, 2007 03:05 PM

SuicidePuppies said:

LuLu said:
Im gonna hit up the Mountain View location today, this is the most awesome thing ever!



+1000

i'm gonna try and go down there this weekend. hopefully they don't sell out of Buzz cola and Krusty-Os

this is all bringing me one step closer to my dream of living in a cartoon and being a Simpsons character. biggrin



so I already went. Its sooo great!! It was packed and people are buying the Buzz Cola by the case. I purchased myself 2 boxes of Krusty O's,2 squishees and a 6 pack of Buzz. THis was by far the highlight of my week. I can't wait for the movie to come out, I remember hearing about the movie for the first time around 10 years ago and the time is upon us!!!

Matthew_O

Matthew_O

Los Angeles, CA
December 2006

JUL 03, 2007 04:39 PM



But [customers] won't find Duff beer



Biggest let down in the history of let downs. Seriously ruined my day reading that.

susa62

susa62

Los Angeles, CA
December 2005

JUL 03, 2007 07:00 PM

eek, i have a kwik e mart around the corner. i sure hope the nuclear power plant isnt next!

Matthew_O

Matthew_O

Los Angeles, CA
December 2006

JUL 03, 2007 08:31 PM

susa62 said:
eek, i have a kwik e mart around the corner. i sure hope the nuclear power plant isnt next!



WHERE! Is there more than one in L.A.?

Girthy

Girthy

Canoga Park, CA
July 2005

JUL 03, 2007 11:31 PM

The L.A. one is on Venice and Sepulveda. I went today, there was a line to get in. Thankfully it didn't take too long, but then the line to get squishees was ridiculous. It seriously took like 20 minutes. They had a limit of 3 per customer on the Buzz Cola, which I might add tastes more like Coke than it does Pepsi (thank god) and the Krusty-O's are just your normal run of the mill Fruit Loops. No jagged metal "O" though.

Oh and the doughnuts are delicious. They're 'homerific!"

punk

punk

Phoenix, AZ
January 2004

JUL 03, 2007 11:52 PM

That they have chosen to skip Arizona, home of many 7-Elevens, is insulting.

I demand a Squishee!

attn_ho

attn_ho

Brooklyn, NY
February 2004

JUL 03, 2007 11:55 PM

almost TWO decades DG! me and a friend counted tonight... the shows first season was 89-90 (not counting the tracey ulman years), which means theyve finished thier 18th consecutive year of broadcasting half hour shows.

theres also a contest to vote which of the 30 or so springfields in america is THE springfield.

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