"Thank you, come again!"--Apu

As I was leaving work early this afternoon, I recieved a text from Lil' Brudder: "You should grab a slushee at 7eleven on Shoreline after work. This is one of 12 nationwide converted into a Kwik-E-Mart for the Simpsons movie. The whole family is there, and an Indian guy outside even says, 'Thank you, come again!'"

In what could be the grandest marketing scheme of the summer, a dozen 7-11 convenient stores across the country have turned into Kwik-E-Marts today as a promo for "The Simpsons Movie". Among the 12 stores in the country that were converted to resemble Springfields's convenience store, we were lucky enough to have a Kwik-E-Mart in Mountain View--the only one in Northern California, and one of three in all of California. Other real Kwik-E-Mart locations are: New York City; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Burbank, CA; Los Angeles; Henderson, NV; Orlando, FL; Seattle; and Bladensburg, MD.



I pick up Lil' Brudder and make the 3-minute drive to Kwik-E-Mart. Amazingly enough, it wasn't too crowded, but crazy enough that everyone was taking pictures and buying Simpsons memorabilia--us included. Everything labeled "7-11" is replaced with "Kwik-E-Mart". The "slurpee" is now the "squishee". Buzz Cola, Krusty O's cereal, collector's cups, magnets, Kwik-E-Mart coolers ("Buy 3 For the Price of 3!")...you'll find them here. And if there isn't a Kwik-E-Mart near you, you should be able to find them down the street from where you live. Over 6,000 7-11s across the nation are selling the Simpsons merchandise.