News

A Big Gulp and voter registration to go

September 1, 2004

LOS ANGELES - Rock the Vote has partnered with Sunkist Orange Soda, 7 UP and 7-Eleven in an effort to mobilize 20 million young people to vote Nov. 2. The non-partisan youth voter organization and Sunkist Soda plan to distribute at least 1 million voter registration forms in both English and Spanish via voter registration kiosks placed in participating 7-Eleven stores across the country. They will also encourage 7-Eleven customers to sign Rock the Vote pledge cards reflecting a commitment to vote on Election Day.

The partnership will include public service announcements and in-store signage that drive customers to the Rock the Vote kiosk, located within participating 7-Eleven stores. An in-store coupon at the kiosk will offer savings on Sunkist, 7 UP and Super Big Gulp drinks. In addition, Super Big Gulp cups will spotlight recording artists slated to perform on the 2004 Rock the Vote bus tour, including Maroon 5, the Black Eyed Peas and Joss Stone.

In a recent press release, Doug Foster, managing director of marketing for 7-Eleven said, "Participating in Rock the Vote is a great way for us to reach out to the 18-22 year old segment, as well as make voter registration easy and convenient for them."

Jehmu Greene, president of Rock the Vote, commented, "We're proud to say that this truly represents a new take on the convenience of convenience stores. We intend to register at least one million new voters this year and motivate 20 million young Americans to go to the voting booth, and this wide-ranging partnership with Sunkist Soda, 7 UP and 7-Eleven will go a long way toward achieving that goal."

"We realized we had a landmark opportunity to empower consumers with a retail partner program, and 7-Eleven was the right retailer," said Tony Jacobs, vice president, Sunkist Soda. "It's a great destination to house Rock the Vote information, and it's heavily frequented by two customer segments less likely to be registered to vote: 18-22 year-olds and Hispanics.