7-Eleven Continues Birthday Tradition: Free Slurpees

IRVING, Texas — 7-Eleven Inc. is cooling off for its 90th birthday with a free Slurpee party.

The convenience retailer is giving away free Slurpee drinks on July 11, 7-Eleven Day, to celebrate its milestone birthday. The summer giveaway tradition began in honor of 7-Eleven's 75th birthday in 2002.

Participating U.S. convenience stores will give away an estimated 9 million free small Slurpee drinks from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, on Tuesday while supplies last. Customers will also be able try 7-Eleven's new Cotton Candy Slurpee. The flavor is only available for a limited time at participating stores.

The summer promotion continues as Slurpee Week, July 12 through July 18. Customers who purchase seven Slurpee drinks during the week and scan the 7-Eleven mobile app will receive 11 Slurpee drinks free.

New this year, Slurpee cup icons will appear in the app, showing customers' progress toward the 11-free goal. Slurpee purchases also will count toward the ongoing Buy 6-Get 7th Free 7Rewards offer, according to the retailer.

Once seven Slurpee drinks are purchased, 11 free Slurpee coupons will automatically appear in the "Scan and Save" section of the 7-Eleven mobile app 24 hours after the qualifying drink purchase. 

The coupons may be redeemed one at a time or all at once. Deadline to receive 11 free Slurpee drinks is Aug. 31.

"Celebrating our birthday with a free Slurpee drink, the product that is probably most closely associated with 7-Eleven, is a natural … and fun … way to mark the day," said Laura Gordon, vice president of marketing and brand innovation. "7-Eleven Day is a celebration, not only of our birthday, but more importantly, of our customers. 

"Ninety years is a big birthday, and our customers are the ones who got us here. By adding Slurpee Week, we have a whole week to say thank-you for their business throughout the year," she added.

During the annual birthday bash, 7-Eleven will also offer a sneak peek at its new Slurpee cup design with colorful bubbles and swirls. The small cups for free Slurpee drinks will feature the new design. Other sizes will launch later.

7-Eleven introduced its frozen carbonated beverage in 1966. The next year, the company's advertising director coined the word "Slurpee" to describe the sound the drink made traveling through the straw. To date, 7.4 billion Slurpee drinks have been slurped worldwide.

Other Slurpee fun facts include:

• The most Slurpee drinks have been sold in Detroit.
• 7-Eleven sells more than 150 million Slurpee drinks in the United States each year.
• The world's most popular Slurpee flavor is Fanta Cherry, followed by Coca-Cola.
• Slurpee drinks are served at a frosty 28 degrees.
• More than 40 percent of all Slurpee drinks are sold during June, July and August.
• Slurpee drinks olds at 7-Eleven in a year equal 44 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Irving-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 62,000 stores in 17 countries, including 10,900 in North America.