For 7-Eleven’s 96th birthday the company is giving away small Slurpees to celebrate what the company calls Slurpee Day. Between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on July 11 (7-11), customers can go into any participating store and get a free, 15-ounce Slurpee in the flavor of their choice—or flavors, if they are a flavor mixer.
In preparation for the birthday festivities, here are seven Slurpee facts.
1. The Slurpee was created by accident—at a Dairy Queen in Kansas. In the late 1950s, a Dairy Queen owner named Omar Knedlik kept having his machinery break down, so he put soda bottles in the freezer as a contingency. The bottles would come out a little slushy, and after customers kept requesting the frozen-ish sodas, Knedlik realized he had a hit on his hands. He built a machine specifically to create this kind of bubbly drink—combining flavor mix, water and carbon dioxide.
In 1965, 7-Eleven licensed the machine but needed its own name. Enter Bob Stanford, an ad agency director who thought up the term “Slurpee” because of the slurping sound the drink made coming up through a straw. By the 1970s, there was a Slurpee machine in every 7-Eleven in the country.
2. There have been over 300 Slurpee flavors. However, the two most popular in the United States tend to be Coca-Cola and Wild Cherry. Early flavors had novelty names such as Pink Fink, Fulla Bulla, For Adults Only and Kiss Me, You Fool. There have been regional flavors: Vernors Ginger Ale in Michigan, Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda in New York City, Big Red in Texas and Slurpee Is for Lovers Sour Lemon Lime in Virginia. And 7-Eleven has limited-edition flavors this summer: Summertime Citrus (a combination of mandarin orange and ruby red grapefruit), Hibiscus Lemonade, Fanta Dragon Fruit Zero Sugar (a blend of kiwi, pear and watermelon) and Sprite Lymonade Legacy (Sprite with a splash of lemonade and strawberry).
3. Every day is Slurpee Day in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Last year, the Canadian City was crowned the Slurpee Capital of the World for the 22nd year in a row based on having the highest per capita consumption of the beverage. Some estimates say Winnipeg’s almost 750,000-person population consumes an average of 189,000 Slurpees monthly. Winnipeg has even honorarily named a street “Slurpee Way.” (Detroit is considered the Slurpee Capital of the United States.)
4. Don’t mix? You’re not alone. According to market research from the 2010s, 41% of slurpers never mix their flavors, while 37% always do. And 21% will mix on occasion.
5. A frequent slurper? You’re not alone. 7-Eleven estimates seven billion Slurpees have been sold since the drink’s invention, which breaks down into an average of 14 million Slurpees a month and 470,000 Slurpees a day.
6. There’s a Slurpee song. In the late 1960s, DJs were getting requests to play “Dance the Slurp,” an earworm composed by Tom Merriman, a jingle legend. The two-minute song features slurping sounds, groovy, brass-heavy music and people yelling out “slurp slurp” and just “slurp.” The song was released on a 45 rpm record and was handed out for free in 7-Eleven stores. Copies of the vinyl fetch around $40 on eBay, and the song was later used by Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow for their 1999 album, “Brainfreeze.”
7. Have a brain freeze? Here’s a useful Slurpee fact: To fight brain freeze, press your tongue or thumb against the roof of your mouth or drink some warm water. Scientifically, a brain freeze is known as sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.