- Colt Gun Salesman: "Uh, just tell me one thing. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
- Marty: "7-Eleven."
- — At the Town Festival
A 7-Eleven store located underneath a Texaco service station in 2015.
7-Eleven (pronounced "seven-eleven") was a convenience store chain that existed in 1985.
History[]
Marty McFly frequently visited a 7-Eleven to play a Wild Gunman arcade game, which gave him the skill to shoot a real gun.
Back in 1885, when Marty was asked by Colt Peacemaker gun salesman Elmer H. Johnson how he learned to shoot a gun as well as he had just demonstrated on the shooting gallery, Marty cryptically replied "7-Eleven".
In 1984, Marty McFly played Wild Gunman at 7-Eleven. He met Jennifer Parker there, and was going to ask her on a date, but was interrupted by Douglas J. Needles, who mocked Marty because he didn't have a car, which embarrassed him as he was afraid that Jennifer would reject him for someone who had their own vehicle. After deciding against stealing Dr. Emmett Brown's DeLorean DMC-12 to try to impress Jennifer, Marty took Doc's advice and asked Jennifer out. They then went on a date to a movie theater to see a Clint Eastwood movie.
In 2015, there was a 7-Eleven store in Hill Valley located where the Texaco service station used to be in 1985. A new automated gas and oil service station for flying cars had been built on top of the store. Although these details are not seen much on the film itself, the 2015 7-Eleven store has an open-air design, consisting of a wall of high-tech Compu-Vend vending machines sitting behind a central column (which holds up the Texaco station's automated service platform and consists of a small checkout counter). These Compu-Vend vending machines carried various items, including soft drinks made by Pepsi (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mandarin Orange Slice and Lemon Lime Slice), beer made by Miller (Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Lite), Milk, Big Gulp, Kodak film, Body Glove swimwear, Oakley sunglasses, Nike sneakers and Easy Credit. The building's central column acts as the 7-Eleven's checkout counter, which is book-ended by two smaller columns that act as vending machines for 7-Eleven's signature Slurpee frozen beverage, as well as vending machines for Doritos tortilla chips, another product owned by Pepsi through their Frito-Lay snack subsidiary. The link to the video showing those details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKXN3ub5lRo
Behind the scenes[]
- In the commentary for Part III, Bob Gale mentions that the 7-Eleven reference was changed to Disneyland for international releases of the film due to it not being as well-known in most other countries.
- But, Disneyland never had any Back to the Future content, but Universal Studios once had.
- 7-Eleven's business started in the United States in as the Southland Ice Co. 1927, they became known as the Tote'm Stores in 1928 before rebranding to the more familiar 7-Eleven name in 1946. Their USA headquarters was bought by their Japanese franchise, now known as Seven & I Holdings, in 1991, but whether 7-Eleven reference changed in Japan is unknown.
- 7-Eleven is spelled 'Seven-Eleven' in Craig Shaw Gardner's novelizations of Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III.
Appearances[]
- Back to the Future Part II
- Back to the Future Part II novelization (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future Part III (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future Part III novelization (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future: Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines
