When Tim Hortons decided to peddle its coffee and sugary treats in the northern U.S., the chain was betting that no one ever went broke overestimating the appetite of the American public. But in its cross-border expansion, Tims was not prepared to feed a political controversy.
The company is now reckoning with the quagmire of American family values politics, after creating a stir with its plan to sponsor an anti-gay marriage event in Rhode Island.
After local blog the Providence Daily Dose reported Tim Hortons' sponsorship of the event, the negative attention reached the company's head office in Oakville and it withdrew its support. "It has come to our attention that the Rhode Island event organizer and purpose of the event fall outside of our sponsorship guidelines," the company said in a statement released Monday afternoon .
"Tim Hortons can not provide support at the event," the release said.
The Marriage Day Celebration, which is to be held this Sunday in the shadow of a stately mansion in Warwick, R.I., is organized by the National Organization for Marriage, a group that lobbies against the legalization of gay marriage, and the sponsors behind an ad campaign released in April that famously equated the gay marriage lobby to a gathering storm. Plans for the event include a barbecue dinner and an ice cream social, as well as live worship music.
Tim Hortons' sponsorship guidelines specify it does not sponsor "religious groups" or "political affiliates." The regional office in Rhode Island originally approved the sponsorship.
"Major error by the regional manager, here," said Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at York University's Schulich business school. "This is an operational slippage by Tim Hortons. Sex, religion and politics are things you try as a corporation not to engage in. This is particularly thorny because it deals with all three."
The issue also highlights how difficult it can be for companies such as Tim Hortons to market themselves in local, national and international arenas simultaneously, while keeping a consistent brand image across the board.
A local gay marriage advocate said this move could hurt Tim Hortons in the region.
"This is an inclusive community," said Kathy Kushnir, executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island. "People don't have a lot of money. The money that they have, they are going to use to support the businesses that put together the kind of society they want to be living in."
But Ken Hardy, a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Western Ontario and an expert in the coffee industry, said he is surprised to see such a sharp departure for Tim Hortons from its usual practice of sponsoring such benign events as children's charities and little league games.
"It's a real anomaly," he said, adding that there are much bigger payoffs for supporting local events that are not political, since it reflects better on the business to endorse "things no one could really argue with."
As of May, four states in New England have legalized same-sex unions or given those couples some legal rights. Rhode Island, however, has resisted such change.
Regardless of the political makeup of a region, companies will always try to sit on the fence when it comes to addressing controversial issues, said York's Prof. Middleton. That makes this a difficult public relations challenge for Tim Hortons, because they may not want to be seen as either opposing or condoning gay marriage, he said.
"If you're seen as coming down too hard on somebody with that viewpoint, then the Christian right is likely to take this up as a cause célèbre and do things like boycotts," Prof. Middleton said. "You have these policies which say you don't support either side. They're going to try to have their cake and eat it. It's a difficult position to take."
For now, Tim Hortons has taken a clear position - its release shows the company is trying to mitigate any damage.
"Tim Hortons and its store owners have always welcomed all families and communities to its restaurants and will continue to do so," the statement reads. "We apologize for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused."
The National Organization for Marriage did not respond to interview requests Monday.