7-Eleven Lines Up 'Super Cool' Festivities for 7-Eleven Day

DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. is cooling things down for its 86th birthday celebration on Thursday.

The day, 7/11, is traditionally known as Free Slurpee Day by fans of the frozen drink and this year will be no different. Free 12-ounce Slurpee drinks will be available from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at participating 7-Eleven stores in the United States and Canada.

"7-Eleven Day, July 11, occurs at the approximate midpoint of summer and the Slurpee season when summer fun is in high gear. It also marks a milestone for 7-Eleven when we raise a collective Slurpee toast and dance a crazy dance to celebrate our birthday and all things 7-Eleven," said Laura Gordon, vice president of marketing and brand innovation. "We promised an #Awesummer this year with more fun, more free stuff and more surprises, and summer is far from over. There's lots more to come."

Other features of this year’s 7-Eleven Day festivities include:

• Slurpee dance -- YouTube dancing phenom Nathan Barnatt posted his version of the Slurpee dance, as well as how-to videos on www.7-eleven.com/slurpeedance and YouTube. Fans are encouraged to download the Slurpee Dance theme song, follow Nathan's lead or make up their own moves and post a video to 7-Eleven's Facebook fan page, on Twitter, YouTube or Vine with the tag @slurpee #slurpeedance.
   
• Fab flavors -- This summer's featured Slurpee flavors include Slurpee Strawberry Lemonshade and Slurpee Lite Sugar-Free Mango Lemonade.
   
• Party favors -- The tiny party hats are back, along with tiny dancers and assorted human-size bows and bands (for heads and wrists). Fans can download the party paraphernalia at www.7-eleven.com/slurpeedance.
   
• Slurpee swag -- Slurpee fans can purchase Slurpee-branded merchandise, available at participating 7-Eleven convenience stores with mix-and-match promotional pricing. Hats and sandals are two for $8.99 or $5.99 each, while T-shirts and tank tops are two for $11.99 or $8.99 each. Neon-colored Slurpee sunglasses also are available for $4.99 a pair. Previously, all merchandise was only available through the Slurpee Rewards catalog.
   
• Motivational chinchilla! -- Those needing a little extra motivation to get their groove on can download Pam, the motivational chinchilla with four affirming phrases.
   
• Keep up with what's 'APP'-ening -- Fans can download the 7-Eleven app at the iTunes store or Google Play to take advantage of all the #Awesummer freebies, exclusive deals and special offers available all summer long. New ones are announced each week.
   
• Star-Studded Birthday Beach Bash! – "Twilight" actress Nikki Reed threw a birthday beach bash this week for 7-Eleven at a Malibu beach house, complete with giant Slurpee cup sandcastle art created by award-winning sand sculptor Mark Mason and the Sandtastic team.

7-Eleven got its start in the summer of 1927 when a Southland Ice Co. employee started selling bread, milk and eggs on an ice dock in a Dallas suburb. Today, the Dallas-based retailer has approximately 10,100 convenience stores in North America and more than 50,700 stores worldwide.