Burlington-born Ben & Jerry's wants to hit 1-million mark on this year's Free Cone Day
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Ben & Jerry’s has an assignment for you. The company wants you to eat ice cream. For free.
The famed ice-cream makers who began the business in a former gas station 46 years ago in downtown Burlington have announced their latest Free Cone Day. The company will dole out free ice-cream cones at its scoop shops in Burlington and across the world between noon and 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 16.
Ben & Jerry’s has a goal with this year’s giveaway. The company wants to surpass last year’s total of more than 970,000 free cones and hit the 1-million mark by handing out cones filled with flavors ranging from old favorites such as Chunky Monkey to new tastes including mango and PB S’more.
According to a news release announcing this year’s Free Cone Day, the event began in 1979 because founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield had survived their first winter “as a tiny, independent, two-person ice cream business – in the frozen tundra of Vermont.” The National Weather Service deemed that season “the brutal winter of 1978-1979,” according to the release, as the average temperature hit a record low of 14.1 degrees Fahrenheit and the season snowfall total set a high mark of 52.9 inches.
For frozen-food fans fretting that one free cone just isn’t sufficient, Ben & Jerry’s – driven by its desire to give out enough freebies to hit seven digits – reminds potential visitors that they can get in line and wait for their free ice cream as many times as they’d like on April 16.
Free Cone Day is BACK! 🍦 Join us April 16, 12-8pm for a free cup or cone of your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor! No fine print, no catch, just a sweet celebration of our incredible fans (that's you). Learn more: https://t.co/btgkdnfiED pic.twitter.com/JBCnAEvjww
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) March 13, 2024
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day in Vermont and around the world coming up