7-11′s are Changing to Simpson’s ‘Kwik-E-Marts’

Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of “The Simpsons” cartoon, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.

Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO’s cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees. It’s all part of a campaign to hype the July 27 opening of ‘The Simpsons Movie.’

For 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and Homer’s creators at Gracie Films, the stunt is a cheap way to call attention to their movie, since 7-Eleven is bearing all the costs. Executives of the retail chain put the costs somewhere in the single millions, but think they will more than recoup that figure. They also hope it shows they have “the ability to laugh at themselves.”

The promotion, however, is not risk-free.

The proprietor of Kwik-E-Mart is a man named Apu who speaks in a heavy Indian accent. He is based on a manager Groening encountered while shopping at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago and plays to stereotypes about convenience-store operators and Asian immigrants.

“I know it’s a stereotype, but it doesn’t bother me. Everybody knows it’s a joke,” Assandas said. “I’m a big Simpsons fan myself, and maybe subconsciously it even inspired me to become a 7-Eleven owner.”