Tim Hortons - Joining The Dark

The work of a philosopher consists in marshalling recollections for a particular purpose. 
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, Sec. 127, p. 55

Tim Hortons has been around darn near as long as the Oracle of Ottawa. It was one of Canada's most iconic and loved brands. The old days were the best. All the baked goods were actually baked in the store. Not received frozen and then microwaved by a temporary foreign worker. There fore each Tims location had its own finger print so to speak. There were no purchase or time restrictions once upon a time. And you could even smoke right at the table! Seems like the lost coffee shop of Eldorado don't it?

Board meeting at Burger King?

Now that the Oracle of Ottawa has left or rather, abandoned the rat race of this present locked down world, he finds himself less and less at the Tim Hortons. The last straw came when the corporate over whores in marketing at head office decided that that they would discontinue the extra small coffee size. And after tasting the new Dark Roast, the Oracle of Ottawa decided that it was all just a corporate whores marketing plan to 'frame' Tim Hortons more with the Starbucks crowd. If I wanted to go to Starbucks I would just go there. But I have never been in a Starbucks in my life and I am not changing that anytime soon.

As you get older and wiser, you realize that everything eventually comes to an end. It takes a brand with the highest morals and standards to preserve over long periods of time. An example of a brand that has survived since 1833 is C. F. Martin & Company the legendary maker of acoustic guitars. These brands are becoming more and more scarce as time goes on.  The Oracle of Ottawa has come to the hard realization that the brand of Tim Hortons is in all likely hood just not going to survive the near future.

The worst, most untimely marketing campaign of all time?

When the Oracle of Ottawa first heard about the rumors that Burger King was in talks to take over Tim Hortons, the Oracle of Ottawa dismissed it all out of hand. The first thought that went through my very ample and brilliant head was; "Ain't ever gonna happen".  But with the price of  $94.00 a share and the backing of the Oracle of  Omaha, the Oracle of Ottawa had to concede that it has a likely 50 -50 chance of actually happening.
 

  What is most dismaying is that a scum, nearly dead brand such as Burger King could just march up to Canada flash some filthy cash and the board of Tim Hortons just seemed to cave in on the spot! The only reason that Burger King is doing this deal is to prop up its own nearly dead business model on the life blood of another, in the near future hope that there will be a bigger fool out there somewhere where by the Wall Street Bankers will be able to flip it over for a couple of million or billion, depending on the fool that can be found at the desired time.

It is all really depressing. But there is a silver lining. Somebody somewhere here in Canada will take a close look at the original Tim Hortons model and do it all again from scratch. Many ground floor opportunities are and will be had, and the Oracle of Ottawa will be watching out for them. And you should to Dear Reader...