Attention, Kwik-E-Mart Shoppers

From a blogger's perspective, I'm kicking myself for not writing about this earlier, because I found out about this marketing/advertising tactic for The Simpsons movie a week or so before news broke. Oh well. Redemption comes in the form of color digital photos, so here they go. Keep in mind that the Kwik-E-Mart, by nature, is a small store, so if you've done some Googling about this subject already, you're not going to see anything new here. But, indulge me, why don't you:

As you go north on Shoreline Blvd., you can see the exterior of the
Kwik-E-Mart from the street. Yes, I got excited.

Apu --- or, I should say, a life-size cutout of Apu --- greets you as you walk in the door. Please believe I took a picture of me and Apu, but I'm not posting that here! Instead, look at these empty shelves where the Buzz cola and Krusty O's are supposed to be; an indicator of how crazy the buzz has been about these stores (a fresh supply arrives tomorrow, y'all):

The sign apologizing for the lack of merchandise reads, "Please forgive!"

Heh heh. Comic Book Guy's posted up near the men's magazines.

This is why I love fans of The Simpsons: As I was standing in front of the donut case taking photos (and trying to resist the urge of eating them), this guy behind me sniffed and said, "It's not even the right shade of pink." Heh heh. Nerd.

I would have taken more pictures, had I not felt like a complete tool taking pictures inside a 7-Eleven. It was bad enough that I posed for a picture with the Apu cutout. Although, the fact that there were about eight other people doing the same thing made it slightly less painful. But still. I own my nerdiness, but it's not always easy being me, people.

From a professional perspective, whoever came up with this idea should get a fat raise. As you walk through the store, looking for all the Simpsons tie-ins, you can't help but marvel at the attention to detail: Even the screen at the register says "Welcome to the Kwik-E-Mart." I hope this campaign generates the kind of buzz they're looking for, because this is a pretty brilliant idea. My only criticism is that they should have had at least one more in northern California. Like, say, the one down the street from me.

If any of you check it out tomorrow, get me a box of Krusty O's, wouldja?


Oh, and the folks at work should get a kick out of this:



Oh, by the way, there's a blog about the Kwik-E-Marts. My hunch it was started by the folks behind this entire marketing/advertising scheme.