McDonald’s Corp. is going the way of Willy Wonka.
The burger giant, eager to push both its newly formulated soft serve and smartphone app, is giving away free soft serve ice cream on Sunday, which is National Ice Cream Day.
Consumers who download the app can get coupons for a free Vanilla cone that day.
What’s more, one customer will receive a special “Golden Arches Cone,” a limited edition cone that entitles the winner to free McDonald’s soft serve for life — its version of Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket, sans the tour with a creepy chocolate entrepreneur.
To be eligible for the golden cone, consumers have to redeem their cone offer in the mobile app on Sunday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. local time.
The celebration comes two months after McDonald’s unveiled a new formulation of its soft serve to be made with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives — a switch that started last fall.
McDonald’s has also removed artificial preservative from its Chicken McNuggets, committed to serving cage-free eggs by 2025 and has started serving chicken that hasn’t been treated with human antibiotics.
“The positive changes we’ve made to our menu, including our vanilla soft serve, show we are fully committed to continuing to raise the bar at McDonald’s,” Darci Forrest, senior director of menu innovation at the company, said in a statement.
McDonald’s is also upgrading its smartphone app in a bid to win over more convenience-seeking customers, offering mobile order and pay as well as curbside service.
Contact Jonathan Maze at [email protected]
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