Students Scream for Free Ice Cream

In lines rivaled only by those seen at Annenberg during pre-frosh weekend, students waited at the Harvard Square Ben & Jerry’s yesterday for ice cream handouts during the 26th annual “Free Cone Day.”

But Rebecca H. Dezube ’04 also had a grander purpose.

A Ben & Jerry’s employee took a photo yesterday of Dezube, their first customer of the morning. After her 25 cycles through the line, Dezube must have been quite familiar to the workers who spent the day scooping ice cream onto cones.

Dezube has taken advantage of the free ice cream promotion since her first year at Harvard. Yesterday, she aimed to break her personal record with scoops of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Brownie Batter, with cones of Strawberry Kiwi in between.

“I had 10 freshman year and I’ve been trying to beat that,” Dezube said. “I’m just motivated by my sheer love for ice cream.”

Ben & Jerry’s said it expects to serve even more than the 5,000 cones it dished out last year at its Garage location to patrons who queued up outside the shop and onto Mount Auburn Street.

Despite the line’s imposing length, the average wait was about 4-8 minutes.

This small time investment inspired many to go back for seconds. Some people in line held one or two ice cream cones as they waited for more.

Celia R. Maccoby ’07 and her friend Katherine L. Penner ’07 went back for seconds before finishing their first cones.

“I haven’t had lunch yet,” Maccoby explained, a cone of Brownie Batter in her hand. “I’m thinking Cookie Dough or Cookies and Cream for my next one.”

As she raced to finish her first cone before reaching the front of line, she calculated how many times she could come back in the 30 minutes before class.

“I can be here until 2 p.m. and the first wait only took like two minutes,” she said.

Though she was unable to take advantage of Free Cone Day last year, Penner said she was happy that she could take full advantage of it this year.

“I heard about it last year and missed out,” Penner said. “I was really sad.”

Up the street, rival Herrell’s Ice Cream was empty, although employees at Herrell’s claimed that business was not slower than usual.

“A huge group of kids just came in for ice cream,” said Sara J. Powell, an employee behind the counter at Herrell’s. “Although I hope it gets slower!” she joked.

A couple of people, aware of “Free Cone Day,” took one look at the Ben & Jerry’s line and headed straight for Herrell’s.

“The line [at Ben & Jerry’s] was too long,” Thomas M. Hamnett ’07 said.

Once Hamnett heard that the line at Ben & Jerry’s moved quickly, he left Herrell’s and decided to take advantage of the promotion nearby.

One Harvard senior sat in the empty Herrell’s savoring the peace and quiet of the calmer ice cream environment. She complained of the long lines, but said that her primary reason for skipping out on the free cone was a matter of taste.

“I just like Herrell’s more,” she said as she sat at a table eating her ice cream and reading a magazine.

Back at Ben & Jerry’s, people in line questioned the motives for this promotion.

“Maybe we should ask Feldstein why he thinks Ben & Jerry’s does this,” R. Linden Wooderson ’07 said of Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein ’61, who teaches Social Analysis 10, “Principles of Economics.”

But it didn’t take a chaired professor to explain the store’s motivation.

“Giving away a lot of ice cream builds goodwill,” said Jason R. Sweeney, a Ben & Jerry’s employee who scooped ice cream all day. “It’s an amazing tradition.”

But regardless of how much goodwill is built, the promotion draws mobs of patrons.

One woman, disheartened by the line, skipped to the front and asked Sweeney if she could buy an ice cream cone rather than waiting.

“Not today,” Sweeney said. “Today, no one’s paying for ice cream.”

—Staff writer Claire G. Friedman can be reached at cfriedm@fas.harvard.edu.