National Ice Cream Day: You Have Only 1 Day to Get Free Ice Cream

This article is about ice cream. As in, free ice cream. (Just in case you missed the free giveaway at Starbucks this week.)

Yes, Sunday July 16 is National Ice Cream Day. At least it is, according to the ice cream industry. Technically, President Reagan did designate a day in July as National Ice Cream Day back in 1984, but it was only for one year. (Who says they don’t get anything done in Washington?)

But we won’t quibble over whether it’s now just an industry promotion–and we also won’t quibble over the fact that the Presidential Proclamation starts out by referring to ice cream as a “nutritious and wholesome food.”

I guess health and nutrition weren’t exactly advanced sciences in the 1980s. Regardless, to celebrate–well, how else? With free ice cream. (It’s going to be 86 degrees and sunny here in New York City where Inc.com is headquartered, so that’s another reason.)

Here are all the places we know about giving away ice cream to celebrate the mock holiday. Some are just giving it away; others require you to do things like download a mobile app.

Do you know of another free ice cream offer? Let us know in the comments below.

McDonald’s

Get a free vanilla soft serve cone at participating restaurants, from 2 to 5 p.m. As Yahoo News puts it, “The company is looking to highlight their changed soft-serve recipe, which gets rid of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. The giveaway also seems to be aimed at getting more customers to download its smartphone app.”

Baskin Robbins

Download their mobile app and get a free scoop. Easy enough.

Carvel

They’re going the buy one get one free route, but ice cream tastes a little better with friends anyway.

Dippin’ Dots

They’ve been calling this the ice cream of the future for almost 30 years. But even if it’s the ice cream of the past, you can get a “free mini cup of Dippin’ Dots during a two hour window.” You have to check each individual store for the exact window. (Sean Spicer probably won’t be there.)

Honorable Mentions

16 Handles
This isn’t actually ice cream, but if you’re into frozen yogurt, you can get a free four-ounce order from 12 to 5 pm, provided you download their mobile app.

PetSmart
Dogs get free doggie ice cream Sundaes–but only in four cities: New York, Seattle, Dallas, and Toronto. They say these are vanilla with “crunchy biscuit toppings,” but I’m not going to try them.

Also, last time I checked Toronto was in Canada, so, I guess this is now International Ice Cream Day. But it’s a made-up holiday anyway, so don’t fret. Just get some ice cream.