Canucks angry over iconic coffee chain's US ties: ‘F–k Tim Hortons'
It's an only in Canada crisis!
Canucks are torn over whether they should still support the Tim Hortons coffee chain — or boycott, since it is owned by a multinational conglomerate with strong US ties.
The topic of whether Tim Hortons is Canadian enough has reached a fever pitch since the trade war that's had many Canadians vowing to boycott everything American – from food and booze to trips to companies.
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5 'Being Canadian' is literally Tim Hortons' entire identity, so the fact its parent company is American is no small deal.
eqroy – stock.adobe.com
'F–k Tim Hortons. It's embarrassing that they still seem to hold a large part of the Canadian cultural zeitgeist,' wrote one angry Canuck on Reddit.
'RIP Timmie's,' lashed out another.
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The iconic doughnut and coffee shop was co-founded by Toronto Maple Leafs player Tim Horton in 1964, and its 'Canadian-ness' has been the cornerstone of its entire brand.
But Burger King bought out Tim Hortons for $11 billion back in 2014, and the merger created Restaurant Brands International.
Over time, the conglomerate's Canadian ties became fewer — in the last few months, the company boasted principal executive offices in Miami instead of Toronto.
5 Tim Horton played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for 20 years but spent the last five years of his NHL career in the US, playing for the Rangers, Penguins and Sabres.
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5 Horton opened his first doughnut shop at 34 when he was still playing in the NHL. Four years later, Tim Hortons was already a multi-million-dollar franchise.
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Tim Hortons tried to save the day with an ad campaign in February declaring it to be 'proudly Canadian.'
The backlash has been such a big PR crisis for the company, it was forced to issue a press release with the title 'Is Tim Hortons Canadian?'
Many saw the move as disingenuous given its corporate overlords, and it did little to stop the raging debate.
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5 In response to the concerns, Tim Hortons launched its 'proudly Canadian' ad campaign a couple months ago.
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'I find Tim Hortons especially embarrassing to our national identity. It's been really easy for me to boycott them,' seethed one Canadian in a Reddit discussion this week titled, 'Let's clear the air on Tim Hortons.'
'They're a garbage company…who've destroyed what was once a vibrant doughnut ecosystem in this country,' said another.
Karl Moore, a business professor at McGill University in Montreal, said it's a complicated quandary, for Canucks at least.
5 Restaurant Brands International — Tim Hortons' parent company — has corporate offices in Miami.
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Tim Hortons' corporate ownership and decision-making is American, with about 60% of the publicly traded company's shares held in the US. But being a franchised business means local owners get a say.
'It's not a black and white thing,' Moore said.
But, he continued, 'It's still very much an iconic Canadian brand — I think that the people who are complaining about it are a bit wound up.'
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Tim Hortons identifies as Canadian, the company insisted to The Post.
'Tim Hortons is a franchised business. Profits made at Tims restaurants in Canada are the profits of Canadian restaurant owners,' said Michael Oliveira, Tim Hortons' director of communications.
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