DALLAS -- Once again, 7-Eleven is celebrating its birthday on 7-Eleven Day, Wednesday, July 11, 2012. Participating stores in the United States and Canada will give away free 7.11-ounce Slurpees between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., local time.
"7-Eleven Day, or free Slurpee Day, gets bigger and more popular every year," said Joe DePinto, 7-Eleven president and CEO. "This year we expect to give away seven million Slurpee drinks, more than ever before, beating last year's offer by two million. On July 11, we at 7-Eleven will recognize our 85th year as the retail leader of convenience, and it will mark the 45th birthday of our iconic drink--the Slurpee. But the day is also when we do something special to thank customers for their support and welcome new guests."
For 7-Eleven fans who want to show their true Slurpee colors and celebrate in style, the company has created diminutive, downloadable birthday attire--tiny bowties, hair bows and two sizes of party hats ... tiny and tinier. Click here for the petite party-wear.
7-Eleven Slurpee partner, Six Flags, will also join in the fun by offering a special admission price of $7.11 to guests after 7:11 p.m. on 7-Eleven Day when they present a receipt from a 7-Eleven purchase dated 7/11/12. Guests will also receive a VIP wristband at this time to attend the "Exclusive 7-Eleven Coasters After Dark" event that evening.
In addition, Cinemark will give away 7.11-ounce Slurpee drinks at its participating theaters in Dallas, Houston, Salt Lake City and Portland from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. this day.
"This is a tasty way to get Slurpee lovers to sample our refreshing summer flavors, especially our new sugar-free Slurpee Lite," said Laura Gordon, 7-Eleven vice president of brand innovation. "And, we plan to keep the fun rolling on all summer long. For example, during July, we offer the new flavors of Fanta Sugar-Free Strawberry Banana and a delicious Fanta Lemon Creme along with our regular Slurpee flavors."
The company is holding its Big Summer Sweeps campaign. During the summer months, customers can redeem peel-play-and-win game pieces for prizes ranging from a free bag of 7-Select chips to a motorcycle. The summer-long, storewide contest will award more than $2 million prizes with 50 million game pieces to win free in-store products; Six Flags, movie and sporting events tickets; touchscreen computer tablets and GPS devices, party charcoal grills, 24-can coolers, free movie rental codes and gift certificates.
Grand prizes include a motorbike, a trip to the football championship in New Orleans and a Coca-Cola VIP race weekend.
Consumers can find game pieces on medium Slurpee and Super Big Gulp cups as well as Big Bite and fresh sandwich packaging. Each peel-off entry offers a chance to win an instant in-store prize and has a game code that players can enter online to instantly win one of thousands of other prizes. Each code is automatically entered into the sweepstakes for one of the three grand prizes (motorcycle, football trip, racing package).
7-Eleven has celebrated its birthday on July 11 for decades, but it wasn't until its 75th birthday in 2002 that its stores began hosting coast-to-coast birthday parties with free Slurpee drinks for its customers.
"We kicked off the summer with SlurpFREE Day and the new Slurpee Lite right before Memorial Day, we continue the party on 7-Eleven Day, and the Big Summer Sweeps keeps the fun going all summer long," Gordon said.
July 11 marks the day that the leading convenience retailer celebrates its milestones. 7-Eleven, the world's first convenience store, began its run in the summer of 1927 when a Southland Ice Company employee started selling bread, milk and eggs on an ice dock in a Dallas suburb. Since that inauspicious start, "convenience" has become big business. The small ice company has grown into a major international retailing chain with 9,300 7-Eleven stores in North America and more than 46,800 stores worldwide.
7-Eleven, Dallas, operates, franchises or licenses approximately 9,300 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 46,800 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2011, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of nearly $76.6 billion.
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