Mitt Romney may have won the first presidential debate in the United States but he could already have lost the election – if a coffee cup poll of 7-Eleven shoppers is anything to go by.
The convenience store chain offers its US customers the choice between a blue "cup o'Joe" for the Democratic president Barack Obama, or a red one for his Republican challenger, Mr Romney.
Mr Obama has been ahead in the poll since it launched on September 6 and currently has 60 per cent of the “votes”, plus a majority in all but one of the 12 swing states defined by USA Today and Gallup.
By contrast, Mr Romney, who has 40 per cent of the coffee cup sales, claims victory in just three of the 35 states taking part in the poll – and one of those is close, according to 7-eleven.com.
7-Eleven admits that the method is "unabashedly unofficial and unscientific" but its coffee drinkers have successfully predicted the winner in every presidential election since the poll started in 2000.
About 6 million cup-votes were cast in each of the three elections.
The chain even provides an option for undecided voters, regular 7-Eleven “nonpartisan” coffee cups, which are not counted in the final poll tally.
“Each day, almost 7 million Americans visit our neighbourhood stores on their way to work, after school or while they’re out and about,” said 7-Eleven president and chief executive, Joe DePinto. “Around 1 million of those purchase a cup of Eleven coffee.”
The American division of 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses 9,400 stores across the country.
Globally there are about 47,600 stores in 16 countries, which collectively generated sales of around $76 billion (Dh279.15bn) last year.
According to the Huffington Post, in 2010 7-Eleven ran a similar presidential poll in the Philippines, where it has about 750 stores.
Pictures of nine presidential candidates appeared on soda cups, which successfully predicted Benigno Aquino's victory.
gduncan@thenational.ae