Saturday, July 12, 2008

Slurpee Day - 7/11


Remember this day....For it will live in infamy....7/11. For it was and will remain one of the greatest strokes of marketing genius that Seven Eleven Owners will ever come up with. Soon, very soon, the big Indian business execs will take over the world. Every year, on July 11th, Seven Elevens across the US give out free slurpees. Fortunately in the US, 7/11 is generally an extremely warm time of year. So, everyone and their dog goes to Seven Eleven to join in the free, frozen, deliciousness.

But the ploy is not subtle. It is defensibly smart. You come in to get a free slurpee, realize the size is small and then proceed to either buy a larger slurpee with the free one, get a new slurpee, or buy something else with your free slurpee. In the case that they run out of free size cups (which is what happened when I dropped by around 10:00pm) you end up just buying some little drink and food anyway, because you don't want the trip to go to waste. Therefore, I declare Seven Elevens nationwide very good marketers. And, because I did not get my free slurpee, I will most certainly arrive a lot earlier next year, even knowing that the prize isn't particularly large. It still is a free slurpee. And I know Seven Eleven is making bank.

2 comments:

Coyote said...

I went to 7-11 in the mid-afternoon, and the guy behind the counter said they'd run out of free cups. But, I don't think they actually did. I left without buying anything, and went to McDonald's to get a yogurt cone. Lo and behold, they were giving away free iced lattes. Score!

Michael Powers said...

Excellent. I wish I'd figured that out.