Good Promotion Ruined By Terrible Ads

So it's Roll up the Rim time at Tim Horton's.

Great promotion that's been running forever. Everybody in the country happily buys a coffee for the chance to win a TV, cash, boat, or whatever else is available.

Along with Camp Day, when proceeds of the day's sales go towards helping kids attend summer camp, the marketing folks at Tim Horton's have shown that they know their stuff.

But I just heard a radio spot for this season's contest...
In a word: Ugh.

Why are the ad concepts, and especially the copywriting, for this company so hit-and-miss? Do they have more than one agency? Is it a case of meddling in the creative process by people who shouldn't be involved?

Some of the nostalgic, small town Canadiana spots they've produced have been great on an emotional, brand-building level. And they're often quite good at launching new products with simple but effective sales-oriented creative.

But then they hit you with cheesy, low-budget, moronic garbage.

The one I heard today had something to do with "rolling up" traditions, and basically featured people (idiots, I assume) chanting and getting all excited about simultaneous rolling. The fact that the voice actors are terrible doesn't help the writing.

The saddest part is knowing that this is the best they could come up with. Several other ideas were considered and then tossed out in favour of this.

Ugh.

It's in the running to beat the ad below for the title of Most Irritating Donut Shop Advertisement.