How Tim Hortons Killed The Rim & The Charm Of Its Roll Up To Win Contest
"Who has given up on Tim Hortons roll up the rim?"
A Tim Hortons Roll Up The Rim To Win cup.
Remember back in the day when you and your buddies would stop at Tim Hortons after class to get some Timbits and hot chocolate, and then excitedly roll up the rim of your cup to see if you'd scored big?
Little did you know that a few years later, that iconic Canadian contest would become almost unrecognizable.
The 2024 version of Tim Hortons' Roll Up To Win looks nothing like it did when you were a teenager, and the company has shown no interest in going back to its pre-pandemic format. You can't even score a free coffee or bagel with the rim of your cup anymore, because the contest has gone entirely digital.
So what happened?
Nowadays, the only "rolling" is done via an algorithm-fuelled smartphone app, and the contest is more about membership and credit cards than it is about tearing up paper coffee cups. Timmies has even dropped "The Rim" from the name of the contest. And while Tim Hortons says it's all about keeping up with the times, you can find plenty of Canadians online who are dying to get their paper cup prizes back.
The 2024 version of Roll Up To Win runs from March 4 until March 31. While there are plenty of great prizes being offered this year, there's no way to really roll back the clock on a contest that simply isn't as hands-on as it used to be.
Here's how Tim Hortons' Roll Up To Win contest has evolved over the last few years — and what they've lost in the process.
What happened to Tim Hortons' Roll Up The Rim To Win?
In February of 2020, right around the time that COVID-19 started to become a global concern, Tim Hortons announced their first round of changes to the format of Roll Up The Rim To Win.
"After 35 years of Rolling Up the Rim, Tim Hortons has modernized its iconic contest to allow for a combination of paper, digital and sustainable play," they said at the time.
The change was implemented in phases — for the first two weeks of the content, people could use a hybrid model of the physical and digital options to earn a prize, and for the last two weeks, it could only be played on the app or online.
They also retired the dreaded "Please Play Again" message that so many people have rolled up while playing the game, meaning that for those who didn't win a prize during their digital rolling up the rim, they would be entered into one of four $100,000 draws.
Then, in 2021, Tims went fully digital and debuted a new name for the contest: Roll Up To Win.
They also explained that the move to digital was largely for public safety.
"As we explained at the time, we didn't believe it was appropriate for team members to be handling tabs that may have been in people's mouths and pivoted to redistributing all the prizes to restaurant giveaways and a digital contest," they said.
While the reasoning behind the switch to digital might be rooted in good reasons, many still complain about the change, especially now that the COVID-19 emergency has passed.
The reaction
After Roll Up The Rim To Win officially became Roll Up To Win, many expressed their criticism over the switch to digital, citing both nostalgia and practical concerns alike.
"Who has given up on Tim Hortons roll up the rim?" one person asked on the Reddit forum r/AskACanadian in 2023. "Honestly I used to love it and just go for that. But now that it’s virtual I just dgaf. Something about the satisfaction of rolling the cup. Anyone else?"
Others cited issues with the app, from difficulty using it to not wanting to download it.
"My aged parents loathe anything that requires internet familiarity," one user said. "Tim should keep in mind their target demographic... A lot of aged folks hate navigating web interfaces, every new website is a new headache, let alone creating a new username, password requirements, all that hassle."
"I'm not getting another app to roll up the rim," said another. "Good grief. It sucks, I liked the Roll Up The Rim event."
In the r/TimHortons forum last year, someone asked: "Roll Up The Rim - is the fun gone?"
Many agreed that the joy in the game is diminished with the move to digital.
"I'm sorry Timmies, but a laggy app doesn't hit the same spot rolling that cup up did at the end of your coffee," wrote one person. "It may seem like this is a complaining post, but more than anything I'm just disappointed. I miss Roll Up The Rim as it was, and it seems that won't ever come back now."
The prizes
Back in 2004, the U.S. and Canadian prizes at Tim Hortons were certainly impressive: 24 2004 GMC Canyons, 93 Panasonic Plasma Televisions as well as cash prizes, bikes and, of course, Timmies food and drinks. The company also gave away even more vehicles, TVs and cash prizes the following year.
In 2023, while the prizes were impressive (35 daily jackpot prizes of $10,000 in American Express prepaid cards, 15 Volkswagen, stays at Universal Studios, etc.), they had also gotten quite a bit more random.
For instance, last year you could have won a three-month subscription to The Athletic which is a sports news outlet, a $5 Uber Eats digital gift card, a digital code to get $10 Off a Tim Hortons product while shopping through Voila and other various prizes.
On Reddit, others also lamented the seemingly random prizes, many of which now include discounts instead of actual rewards.
"I'd gladly take a free coffee over the two coupons for 30% off Skullcandy that I'll never use. Seriously these prizes are garbage," a user wrote.
"I haven't been keeping count but I'm sure I've had at least a dozen roll ups," said another. "I 'won' 50% off at some online store... So I didn't actually win anything, they just want me to spend money with their retail partner," shared another.
"I got the stupid Skullcandy promo codes 6 times," one person lamented in another thread.
For 2024, there are once again some impressive prizes like $10,000 in Mastercard Prepaid cards, but there are other prizes that seem incredibly niche, like a 6-month premium subscription to Sportsnet+ or an inflatable beaver pool floatie.
Tim Hortons' Roll Up To Win versus McDonald's Monopoly
Many businesses run limited promotions and games, but the only one that really compares to Tim Hortons' Roll Up To Win is McDonald's Monopoly.
In comparison to Roll Up To Rim, McDonald's Monopoly doesn't seem to get nearly as much flak online, perhaps because they didn't kill their physical game pieces when they added a digital element to the contest.
So could Tim Hortons bring back the physical rims? If McDonald's could do it, Timmies certainly could, too. But with a new name and more app-focused ways to play than ever before, it looks like the days of rolling up the rim are over in Canada.
If you are playing Roll Up To Win this year, best of luck — but if you prefer to keep the memories of Roll Up The Rim To Win instead of partaking in the digital version of the game, you're likely not alone.
Narcity reached out to Tim Hortons to ask if they’ve considered bringing back physical rims. They had not responded as of press time.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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