The $28,700 coffee cup

A ten-year-old girl picks a Tim Hortons coffee cup out of the garbage at her school and begins a woeful tale of greed.

Seems the cardboard cup is worth $28,700 -- the value of an SUV that was uncovered as a prize when the little girl asked a 12-year-old friend with stronger fingers to help her "roll up the rim" of the cardboard cup. [The Gazette, Montreal].

The 12-year-old's parents phoned a local radio station for advice because they wanted 50% of the prize value!

Then a man demanded the cup be tested for DNA evidence to prove that he was the rightful owner of the cup. His lawyer claims the man purchased and enjoyed the coffee and even though he threw away the empty cup he's entitled to the SUV prize.

I know, I know. You're waiting for the trite comment, "a tempest in a coffee cup" but all I can say is kudos to the marketing experts at Tim Hortons who produced a TV commercial so powerful that it encouraged a 10 -year-old girl to rummage around in her school's garbage looking for a rim to roll up.