Scott vs Canada: June 2010

To a Canadian, hockey is a way of life. It is what tea is to the British, what a kilt is to the Scottish or violent television is to the Americans. It's part of Canadian culture. So when someone who played professional hockey and won 4 Stanley Cups is somehow more famous for doing something else, it is almost unthinkable.

Tim Horton was a Toronto Maple Leafs NHL defenseman. He began an unsuccessful hamburger restaurant chain but switched to the coffee and donut idea. Tim Horton’s as a coffee shop is now synonymous with Canada. Tim Horton’s has integrated their corporate branding into the fabric of Canadian society. A Tim Horton’s doughnut or coffee is now like American apple pie. It's a fixture of Canadian culture and something most Canadians are addicted to.

Instead of Tim Horton being remembered as a hockey player, it is in this chain, between "double-doubles" and "Timbits," that Tim Horton has found his immortality. That last sentence probably made very little sense to non-Canadians. But it's okay. It is just more Canadian jibberish. And another example of how Canadians make up weird words such as toques and toonies.

A "double-double" is not a type of freestyle aerial jump. It refers to a coffee with two creams and two sugars.
A "Timbit" is a ball of dough that has been deep fried and coated in sugar. Somehow, it's actually less healthy than it sounds, despite all Jen’s protests.

“Roll up the Rim” is an incredibly popular competition held every year. Hidden under the rim of each cup is either a ‘please play again’ message or a prize that you can claim from the store. Prizes range from free coffees, to cash prizes, cars and computers. Every single Canadian buys at least one coffee every day, hoping to win something.

Some non-Canadians say that Tim Horton’s as a coffee shop is, in fact, a poorly disguised cult for Canadians, like Scientology. Scientology promotes ways to defeat alien entities known as Thetans and means you need to be very rich to join. Whereas Tim Hortons serves coffee and tasty donuts to defeat and also provides gives you hope of great riches during “roll up the rim”.
So the difference between the two seems minimal.