Voting Station

7-Eleven

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Corporation

The Resume

    (1927- )
    Born in United States
    Founded by Joe C. Thompson
    Headquartered in Irving, Texas (formerly in Dallas, Texas)
    Originally called Tote'm Stores (renamed in 1946)
    President and CEO is Joseph DePinto (as of 2016)
    Known for the selling of Slurpees (introduced in 1967), as well as for their 32-ounce Big Gulp beverage cups (debuted in 1976)
    Largest convenience store chain in the world
    Operates, franchises and licenses over 56,600 stores in 18 countries
    ‎45,000 employees (as of 2010)

Why 7-Eleven might be annoying:

    It started out as an ice business.
    They started an 'Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven' ad campaign in the 60's.
    Popular myth claims that its birthday is July 11th, hence the name, but there's nothing to support this (it just 'sounds good').
    Rather, the company name was changed from 'Tot'm Stores' to reflect their new store hours (7 AM to 11 PM).
    Their pizza tastes like pepperoni glued to cardboard with sauce spread on it.
    They figured prominently into Right-wing rhetoric after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban sweetened drinks over 16 ounces in volume - nicknamed 'the Big Gulp Ban' - was struck down by the State Supreme Court (March, 2013).
    This despite the fact that Bloomberg's 'big soda ban' would have exempted grocery/convenience stores, including 7-Eleven.
    Actually, the year prior, the company had been pressured by consumers into reducing the size of their 64 ounce 'Double Gulp' to 50 ounces because they were having trouble fitting the original product into their 'vehicle sized' cup holders.
    It became a disturbing punchline during the 2016 Presidential election, when Donald Trump appeared to have mistakenly substituted '9/11' for '7/11' during a speech (supporters tried arguing that he was referring to the address of the Buffalo fire station; Apr. 18, 2016).

Why 7-Eleven might not be annoying:

    It reportedly sells over 1.1 million cups of coffee a day.
    They ran the first ad for a convenience store (1949).
    It was the first convenience store chain to sell coffee-to-go.
    It was the first convenience store chain to have a self-serve soda fountain.
    They were the first chain of convenience stores to also double as gas stations.
    It was the first convenience store chain to both sell Pre-Paid Phone cards and to have ATMs available at every location.
    It was a pioneer in the 24-hour convenience store format (eleven o'clock was deemed too late for a store to be open).
    They've been annually giving away small slurpees every July 11th, since 2002.
    Some of their 7Select brand snacks are actually pretty tasty (particularly the Pretzels and gummy worms).
    Its a well known fact that over 25% of Americans live within one mile of a local 7-Eleven.
    They do a cool 'coffee poll' every Presidential cycle, called 7-Election, which encourages consumers to vote by choosing the Red (GOP) or the Blue (Dem) Slurpee. It accurately predicted the outcomes of both the 2008 and 2012 elections.
    12 select stores converted to 'Kwik-E Marts' for a day to promote The Simpsons movie (2007).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 95 Votes: 53.68% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 36 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 15 Votes: 26.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 67 Votes: 53.73% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 37 Votes: 59.46% Annoying