This morning I went down a deep, dark and decadent rabbit hole: I scrolled through pictures from Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, a nearly 40-year-long tradition where the company gives away a limitless amount of ice cream. Seriously, once you get a free one you can go back for more like it’s your job. And Free Cone Day is happening right now.
Specifically, you can pick up your one-day-only unlimited supply of ice cream from:
Ben & Jerry’s at The District
2459 Park Ave., Tustin, CA 92782
Ben & Jerry’s at Long Beach Towne Center
7559 E Carson St., Long Beach, CA 90808
But you already knew that. Because you have a pulse and an Instagram account and you too have seen the five zillion and four photos of free cone-goers holding up their coffee caramel fudge ice cream resting in all its dripping, sugary glory atop a classic waffle cone. (I don’t exaggerate on this number. Last year, more than 1 million free cones were handed out to hungry customers and the latest scoop says estimates for 2018 are just as high.)
After a little appetite-inducing research, here are five things about Free Cone Day I bet you didn’t know:
1. There’s compassion in the chocolate.
If you choose Chocolate Fudge Brownie or Half-Baked ice cream, congratulations you’ve just done a sweet deed. For both flavors, Ben & Jerry’s sources the brownie bits from Greyston Bakery, a socially conscious spot in Yonkers, NY that provides jobs and training to poverty-stricken residents looking to get back on their feet.
2. The cows are over the moon about Free Cone Day, too.
3. It’s a sweet celebration.

4. Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are super cool.
Observe: The first Free Cone Day happened in 1979 at a Ben & Jerry’s built inside a refurbished gas station in Burlington, VT. Nothing says cool like ice cream served from a retro New England garage, am I right?

5. Our awesomeness is undeniable.
“We think our fans are awesome so we want to thank you with FREE ice cream all around the world!” Ben & Jerry’s wrote on Facebook. So, the most important thing to remember today is that we are all so incredibly, ridiculously awesome that we deserve ice cream for free.