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Brands: Chock full o' Nuts Coffee Cans As Burial Urns?

Thu, 07/17/2008 - 00:46 — anne

Some consumers are using Chock full o'Nuts coffee cans as burial urns for loved ones.  Apparently they've been inspired by the recent Warner Bros. movie, "The Bucket List" about two terminally ill men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson who go on a road trip to do the things they've always wanted to do before they 'kick the bucket.' After their deaths, two  Chock full o'Nuts coffee cans were used as burial urns.

Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA (MZB), manufacturer of Chock full o' Nuts coffee, reports that when an Ontario, Canada woman was unable to purchase Chock full o' Nuts coffee in her area, she asked the company for help. "My husband has terminal colon cancer,” she explained. “We went to see the movie 'The Bucket List'...my husband was deeply impacted by the end of the movie, so much that he said that's what I want at my funeral ...a Chock full o' Nuts coffee can for my ashes to be placed in."

Another woman wrote, "My Dad died of cancer a little more than two years ago and we thought it would be fitting to put him in a coffee can, too, as he was an avid coffee drinker... We have been shopping for a vintage looking Chock full o'Nuts coffee can in which to place my Dad's ashes since we saw the movie."

And a Florida father contacted MZB informing the company that he too had recently memorialized his son in a Chock full o' nuts coffee can and requested permission to use the Chock full o' Nuts coffee logo on a memorial patch that he planned to create in memory of his son.

Noting that “Inspiration can be found in the most unlikely of places,” the company has established http://www.chockfullonuts.com/stories/ where people can read and share stories of how they’ve memorialized their loved ones.” Besides, Chock full o’Nuts for years has been known as “The Heavenly Coffee.”

I’m sure that lots of people will read this story and think its just plain odd to use a coffee can as a burial urn. But if it comforts people to honor their loved one in a way that is meaningful to them---well, why not? Nice to see, too, that the company has embraced the family’s wishes instead of getting freaked out over whether this is appropriate for the brand. Any brand should be so lucky to be honored this way.

Source: Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA/PR Newswire

Image Credit: Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA /Newscom

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