When Anna Beth West heard about Kangaroo Express’ promotion, she was disgusted.
The convenience store chain is offering a free 16-ounce coffee to any customer who presents a CVS ExtraCare Health card with a cigarette purchase.
“I’m very against smoking because it’s so terrible for your health,” said West, a 22-year-old first-year medical student at UF. “It’s really unfortunate that they’re capitalizing on that.”
The store began offering the deal about a month ago, said Ashley Garrett, manager of the Kangaroo Express on North Main Street and Northeast 16th Avenue. This came after CVS Health announced in early September that it would stop selling tobacco products.
Along with the ban, CVS Caremark changed its name to CVS Health in September to better reflect its health care commitment. The company also rolled out a campaign against smoking, featuring anti-smoking signs and products to help people quit smoking.
Garrett said her district has about 10 stores in it, all of which are offering the deal.
The Kangaroo Express on West University Avenue and Southwest 13th Street is participating in the promotion but hasn’t put out posters or signs for it.
Garrett said she thinks the promotion might be an attempt to reach out to customers who previously bought tobacco products from CVS.
Garrett, who said she started her position last Thursday, has seen the promotion used twice, both by the same middle-aged woman.
“It won’t be popular at this location because we don’t get a lot of student customers,” she said.
West said she knew CVS stopped selling tobacco products but hadn’t heard about Kangaroo Express’ promotion until Monday.
As a medical student, West spent all Monday morning talking to middle schoolers about the negative health effects of smoking, but said it wasn’t her place to tell someone else not to take part in the store’s promotion.
Katlyn Etheridge, 20, said she doesn’t smoke but isn’t that upset with the deal.
“People can do what they want,” said Etheridge, a UF sophomore.
Santa Fe College graphic design junior Natalie Gerber, 21, said she smokes cigarettes every once in a while and said the promotion gives students an incentive to smoke.
“We’re all kind of scraping by, so if there are smokers, they’d take advantage of it,” she said.
Gerber, a Santa Fe College graphic design junior, said she wouldn’t participate in the promotion because she tries to support local coffee shops.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/14/2014]
