7-Eleven is giving away free Slurpees next month and I'm concerned
This July you can choose the date of your complimentary brain freeze.
- Finalist for the Nesta Tipping Point prize and a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
7-Eleven is giving away its signature frozen drink in July to celebrate its 94th birthday.
A different time calls for a different type of birthday celebration, even for a massive convenience store chain turning 94.
7-Eleven has made a tradition of celebrating its unofficial birthday on July 11 (7-11, get it?) by giving away free Slurpees to all comers and calling it a party. But for the second year in a row, the company is expanding the promotion to the entire month of July.
To avoid people crowding around Slurpee machines on a single day in the midst of a pandemic, anyone signed up on the 7Rewards loyalty app will get a coupon for a free small Slurpee added to their account, which can be redeemed anytime in July.
The company took the same approach to 7-Eleven Day last year, but it offered a medium Slurpee back then, so I guess inflation is getting real?
Nectar of the gods?
As a person who's openly admitted to having certain... issues with convenience stores (OK, it's more of an obsession), I have mixed feelings about this development. The 7-Elevens of the Denver metro area are where my lifelong obsession first germinated, and of course, it was all about the Slurpee in the beginning.
But as an adult I've developed a real aversion to corn syrup-sweetened products and currently live several miles from the nearest convenience store and a full two hours from the nearest authentic 7-Eleven Slurpee machine. I no longer make multiple needless trips to the corner store per day, and my diet is better for it.
As a result, I have never taken advantage of a 7-Eleven Day. But with a full month to find my way to one of the stores to get that oversweet, brain freeze-inducing holy nectar, I may soon be revisiting the obsession I thought I'd finally kicked.
Of course, I could always take 7-Eleven up on its offer to have my free small Slurpee delivered for free on 7‑Eleven Day birthday weekend (July 10-11).
Then again, I'm not sure if moving from an obsession with convenience stores to delving into a convenience store delivery habit is moving in the right direction. A telecommuting writer working through a pandemic needs to get some social interaction somehow.
See you next month, 7-Eleven. If you see me there, please make sure it's my first convenience store visit of the day.