Tim Hortons ditches 'Roll Up the Rim' cups amid COVID-19 fears
The move comes not long after Starbucks temporarily banned the use of reusable mugs in its stores for the duration of the outbreak.
Tim Hortons' popular 'Roll up the Rim' campaign will have to go on without any actual rims this year, due to ongoing fears over the growing global COVID-19 outbreak.
The coffee chain is eliminating the actual Roll Up the Rim cups to spare its employees from handling the millions of torn-off prize tabs that change hands during the annual campaign.
"Tim Hortons does not believe it’s the right time for team members in our restaurants to collect rolled up tabs that have been in people’s mouths during this current public health environment," a release from Tim Hortons said Saturday.
RELATED: Here's how spring could impact the spread of COVID-19
The company does not specifically mention COVID-19 or the more common 'coronavirus' designation for the outbreak, referring instead to the 'current public health environment.'
In place of the paper cups, the corporation says it is redistributing the prices, worth some $30 million, to restaurant giveaways and its companion Roll Up the Rim digital contest. As for the cups themselves, Tim Hortons says it plans to 'appropriately recycle' them.
The move comes soon after international coffee giant Starbucks announced it would temporarily ban the use of reusable mugs in its stores over COVID-19 transmission fears. Customers who bring their own mugs will instead receive a 10-cent discount and a paper cup to use instead.
As of Sunday, more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, and around 3,800 people have died from the disease. In Canada, 57 cases have been reported so far, with no deaths as of yet.
