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Slurpee

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Two large Slurpees.

A Slurpee is a slushie sold by 7-Eleven. In 1967,[1] 7-Eleven licensed the product from the ICEE Company, and began selling it as the Slurpee.

Slurpee history

Machines to make frozen beverages were invented by Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s. The idea for a slushed ice drink came when Knedlik's soda fountain broke down, forcing him to put his sodas in a freezer to stay cool, which caused them to become slushy. Many people loved them, which gave him the idea to make a machine to help make a "slushy". When it became incredibly popular, Knedlik hired artist Ruth E. Taylor, to create a marketing name and logo for his invention. She came up with ICEE and designed the original logo still used today. Early prototypes for the machine made use of an automobile air conditioning unit.[2] In 1965, 7-Eleven began a licensing deal with The ICEE Company to sell the product under certain conditions. Two notable conditions being, first, they had to come up with a different name for the product, and second, were only allowed to sell the product in 7-Eleven locations in the U.S. The latter being a non-compete clause insuring the two drinks never went head to head for distribution rights. 7-Eleven then sold the product that in 1967 became known as the "Slurpee" (for the sound made when drinking them). The term was coined by Bob Stanford, a 7-Eleven agency director.

The Slurpee machine has a separate spout for each flavor at the front of a tumbler or freezer, where patrons pour their own Slurpees, whatever the flavor. When Slurpees were first introduced, the dispensing machine was located behind the counter, and the clerk on duty would be tasked with dispensing the product. Common flavors are frozen Coke, Mountain Dew, and cherry, but new flavors are introduced regularly. In the Slurpee's early history, flavors rotated much more frequently than they do currently.

Flavors

Slurpee flavors by brand name
Brand name Flavors
Current Flavors
Banana Chocolate Pie Banana Cream Pie, MIles Slurp Chocolate Flavor
Bawls SnoBawls
Coca-Cola Cherry Coke, Coca-Cola Classic, Vanilla Coke
Crystal Light Lemonade, Lemon-lime, Orange Pineapple Ice, Peach Mango, Raspberry Ice, Strawberry Kiwi, Strawberry Banana, Passionfruit, Berry Pomegranate, Cherry Limeade, Tangerine Lime, Apple Mango
Dr Pepper Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper Vanilla Cherry Dr. Pepper
Fanta Banana, Birch Beer, Blue Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Ginger Ale, Grape, Green Lemon Lime, Green Melon, Kiwi Strawberry, Orange, Orange Cream, Pineapple, Purple Berry Cherry, Mandarin Tangerine, Red Licorice, Super Sour Apple, Super Sour Cherry, Super Sour Watermelon, Vanilla, Watermelon, White Cherry, Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry-Reduced Calorie
Full Throttle Frozen Fury, Blue Demon
Jolly Rancher Green Apple
Hawaiian Punch Regular, Green Berry Rush
Gatorade Gridiron Ice Orange, Fruit Punch
The Hershey Company Bubble Yum
Master Chill Bruisin Berry, Sour Green
Mello Yello Mello Yello
Minute Maid Blue Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Grape, Lemonade, Orange, Passionfruit Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Raspberry Lemonade, Strawberry
Monster Energy Black Ice
Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, Code Red, Livewire (Orange), Pitch Black (Grape), Kryptonite Ice (lime-ish), Blue Shock (Blue Raspberry), Game Fuel (Citrus-Cherry), AMP Freez, Voltage Freeze (Raspberry citrus-Ginseng), Thin Ice (Berry)
Pepsi Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Blue, Wild Cherry Pepsi
Sierra Mist Sierra Mist, Shrekalicious
Sprite Remix Sprite Remix
Starburst Dragon Fruit
Twizzler Twizzler
Tropicana Blue Raspberry Rush
Other flavors Piña Colada, Grapermelon, Frawg, Honeycomb, Blue Meanie (Australia). Arctic Burst, Gully Washer, StrawberrWii Banana, Slurpee Flavor Tie-Ins

Worldwide consumption

Slurpees are offered in many but not all covered countries. Canadians purchase an average of 30 million drinks per year. Despite its status as a very cold city and with a population of only 700,000,[3] Winnipeg, MB was crowned the Slurpee Capital of the World for the eleventh time in a row in 2010. 7-Eleven stores across Winnipeg sell an average of 188,833 Slurpee drinks per month. The rest of Canada sells an average of 179,700 per month, which makes Winnipegers the world leader of Slurpee sales. Unlike their counterparts in America, Canadian Slurpees are not injected with air. [4]

Though it is known to be sold in Mexico, the Slurpee is not sold in most standard 7-Elevens in Mexico.

Slurpees are widely consumed in Australia, with 6.6 million sold each year[5].

In 1990, Dallas-based Southland Corp., 7-Eleven's founder and U.S. operator, went bankrupt in 1990, but Seven-Eleven Japan, and its parent Ito-Yokado, bought 70% of Southland in 1991 for $430 million and quickly launched renovations of the U.S. stores. As a result, the US chains became more efficient, though 1,218 stores closed. Following the Japanese model, the new 7-Elevens set up a weekly system to monitor inventories to ensure popular items are always in stock. [6]Despite the success of the buyout, Slurpees are not sold in Japan.

Religious and dietary information

Most Slurpee flavors are certified kosher "parve" as well as halal[7]. The Diet Pepsi flavor uses sodium caseinate as an anti-freezing agent (sugar is a natural anti-freeze in other flavors) which only gives it the status of kosher dairy. The Piña Colada, Twizzler Strawberry, Tropicana Grape Wild Strawberry and Monster Black flavors, however, are not kosher.[8]

Promotions

In 1994, 7-Eleven sought to remake Slurpee's "brain freeze" campaign targeted to the adolescent MTV audience. The creative directors assigned the task of creating four new commercials to the Brothers Quay, and Boston-based Olive Jar Animation. Known for their bizzare aesthetic and influence in the stop-motion animations industry, the Quays based their "brain freeze" ad on a late 19th century photograph of a female contortionist. In the commercial, a curtain reveals the contortionist balancing on two chairs, bending over backward to sip a Slurpee. She falls victim to "brain freeze" and turns into an ice cube. [9]

In 1998, 7-Eleven launched Slurpee lip balm to the market. Other "Slurpee-flavored" products have included Slurpee gum, which had a liquid candy center. [10]

In 2004, 7-Eleven created an edible Slurpee straw.[11]

In 2007, as part of the Kwik-E-Mart promotion for The Simpsons Movie, Slurpees at 7-Elevens were renamed "Squishees" and sold in special collector cups.[12]

Starting on November 4, 2008, 7-Eleven worked with Nexon to promote Slurpees to gamers that play on Nexon.net.[13] The Slurpee cups had images printed on them from certain Nexon games, and a code printed on them that could be redeemed on a website for special in-game items.

Also for WWE's Summerslam 2010 7-11 offered collectible Slurpee cups of Rey Mysterio, John Cena, The Undertaker, and Triple H. They also came with collectible straws with figures of each wrestler on them.

Every year on July 11 (7/11, month/day), 7-Eleven offers free Slurpees in the US.[14]

In Australia, free Slurpees are given on November 7 (7/11, day/month) to coincide with 7-Eleven day.[15][16]

See also


References

  1. ^ "Former 7-Eleven CEO Thompson dies. (Top of the News).(John Thompson)(Obituary)". {{cite news}}: Text "Find Articles at BNET.com" ignored (help); Text "National Petroleum News" ignored (help) [dead link]
  2. ^ http://www.slurpee.com
  3. ^ "Weather Winners WebSite". Environment Canada. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
  4. ^ http://www.slurpee.com/Amusement/Facts.aspx
  5. ^ "Slurpee and other frozen foods products from the 7 Eleven Stores franchise". Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  6. ^ Schuman, Michael. "Sushi Slurpee." Forbes 156.5 (1995): 12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
  7. ^ CRC Kosher status
  8. ^ Star-K Kosher Flavor List
  9. ^ Goldrich, Robert. "Brothers Quay offer upside-down perspective on Slurpee." SHOOT 36.26 (1995): 12. Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
  10. ^ http://www.slurpee.com/Amusement/Facts.aspx
  11. ^ http://www.slurpee.com/Amusement/Facts.aspx
  12. ^ "7-Eleven Becomes Kwik-E-Mart for 'Simpsons Movie' Promotion". Fox News. 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  13. ^ "Nexon Slurpee Promo". Nexon.
  14. ^ "Free Slurpees 2010". CoolBee.
  15. ^ "Slurpees Australia".
  16. ^ "Free slurpees on 7-Eleven Day".
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