Winning wheels

Like many Canadians, Meg South rolls up her Tim Hortons coffee cups each March and hopes to see the word “win.”

She hardly expected to see the word “Matrix” following it.

“I was about to start my History of Medicine class,” says the second-year biology major at Dalhousie. “I had just finished my coffee and rolled up the rim and saw ‘win.’ I just thought it was a coffee or a doughnut. And then it said ‘Matrix.’ I laughed out loud.”

Large double double

The coffee—a large double-double—was purchased at the Tim Hortons location in the Student Union Building where, at present, 5,400 winning rims have been turned in, though none quite as spectacular as Ms. South’s.

There are only 40 Toyota Matrix vehicles up for grabs in the contest across North America. When you consider that there are over 285 million cups printed for the yearly Roll Up the Rim promotion, that means an approximately one-in-7,148,770 chance of finding a car under your rim during the contest.

Ms. South immediately texted her roommates—who didn’t believe her at first—and called her family as soon as her class was over. “It was so hard to focus in class. But I knew that I had a mandatory tutorial afterwards, and that if I left to celebrate I probably wouldn’t end up making it. So I stuck it out.”

Drive up to the SUB

Unlike when you win a coffee or doughnut, Ms. South has to mail her winning rim to Tim’s head office to confirm her prize, which means she won’t see her car for several weeks at least. According to the contest rules, the car is actually delivered to the winning location, meaning it’ll arrive right outside the SUB where the winning cup was purchased.

“It doesn’t quite feel real yet. It’s like when you win a free coffee—you’re excited when you roll up the rim, but it doesn’t really sink in until you actually go to get your prize. I’m not sure it will really hit home until I get the keys in my hand.”