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Photo: Sonic Drive-In
Sonic is launching a richer, creamier soft-serve ice cream -- Real Ice Cream -- with a "buy one, get one free" shake promotion and 99 cent one-topping sundaes, Nation's Restaurant News reported.
Sonic customers who purchase a shake through June 27 will receive free-shake coupons that can be redeemed at the time of purchase or on a later visit through July 15. The coupons can be cashed in for Cream Pie shakes and malts, where available, in addition to regular shakes. The 99-cent single-topping Real Ice Cream sundae promotion runs between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The new ice cream formula is part of Sonic's effort to turn around its sales slump.
"The new ice cream ... is richer, it is thicker, it is creamier than our current soft serve, which is what we have to call it because that is what it has been; a non-ice cream, lower-fat dairy product," J. Clifford Hudson, Sonic's chairman and chief executive, told NRN.com in March. Sonic is also improving its Frozen Favorites dessert toppings including chocolate, hot fudge, caramel and pineapple by removing high-fructose corn syrup and replacing it with "more natural ingredients," the company said.
"For years, customers have enjoyed the Frozen Favorites treats on our menu. From shakes to blasts to sundaes, people love to visit Sonic to celebrate the return of warm weather with a frozen dessert," said Dominic Losacco, vice president of marketing for Sonic, in a statement.
"Strengthening our frozen lineup with the addition of Real Ice Cream is just one more way Sonic adapts our menu to appeal to customers' tastes and preferences."
The 3,500-unit drive-in chain is also launching an extra-long Coney hot dog this summer.
5-19-2010 @10:21AM James said... Been to a few Sonic's. You know what would make me come back more that "Real Ice Cream?" Cleaning the place from time to time. The ones I've been to have been a bit disgusting.
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5-19-2010 @8:31PM j said... I waited in line to get a dollar banana split on a hot night . It was about as big as my thumb . No thanks to sonic . I wont get fooled again
5-19-2010 @10:59PM Jul said... Then you need to complain to the corporate office about that particular Sonic. They are franchised and that is the last kind of thing Sonic wants representing them.
5-19-2010 @11:18PM Desi said... Looks like over charging for everything (even charging extra on top of the advertised cost for flavor for slushes)isn't working for them. They claim that the price on the board doesn't include flavor! That's extra!
5-19-2010 @9:02PM Cletus Peckerspin said... Oh, joy! I'm unemployed and living in an empire that is disintegrating. But, I get a FREE Sonic shake! Wow, life is good after all.
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5-19-2010 @9:27PM Karen said... I'm still waiting for them to bring back their version of a Phillie Cheesesteak sandwich. It was awesome.
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5-19-2010 @9:33PM stardragonn said... As a matter of fact my son drove me to a SONIC in our town yesterday. I ordered a hot fudge sundae with extra hot fudge on the side. IT WAS TERRIBLE !!! There was about a tablespoon of the hot fudge on ice cream and about the same in a tiny container. The hot fudge was cold and looked clabbered. I tossed it out. It looked gross. The last time I was there I ordered a chocolate malt with extra malt. I never tasted the regular malt much less the extra. Sonic needs a major overhaul in my opinion.
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5-19-2010 @10:13PM UNBELIEVABLE said... Thank you Debbie Downer(s)..all five of you! Offer you free food and all you do is complain. Maybe you all should see a shrink...then get a life!!!
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5-19-2010 @10:18PM Jay said... Sorry Karen...I just saw that your post WAS positive!
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5-19-2010 @10:19PM Vicious Mind said... My last trip to Sonic was bad. We had just bought a new van and decided to eat inside since we had four kids 2 and under. My husband waited in line at the counter for a solid 30 minutes. During this time one customer was served and then the cashier walked off. My husband stood there in plain view of the preparation employees, no one offered to come over and say, "we will be with you in a minute" or "sorry for your wait", nothing. And my husband is 6'4 so he could not have been overlooked. Also, we were a party of four adults and four children all of which were sitting in a booth. Finally we decided to leave and an employee on skates came to the counter as we were walking out the door and my husband said, "no one would wait on us". I called that Sonic from the parking lot and asked for a manager, I was told he was busy and the girl on the phone said it wouldn't happen again when I explained what happened. I called Sonic HQ and was told I would get a call from the manager, I never received one but they sent me coupons in the mail which I trashed. Why would I want to go back there??
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5-19-2010 @10:35PM Nancy Crowder said... The Sonic in our town is awesome. They have the highest rating for cleanliness. The food is great!
It depends on the franchise owner. Complain if it isn't what you expected. Like all businesses, they should deliver on the goods or shut down.
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5-19-2010 @10:44PM proud_conservative said... You people must be going to some 3rd rate hole like Dixie Queen or somewhere. Sonic is tops in shakes & sundaes and their new ice cream, is mmm mmm yummie!
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6-09-2010 @8:46PM carol said... it might taste yummy, but it gives an awful sinus headache.
5-19-2010 @11:23PM betty said... I wonder did it occur to the wife and husband with the four kids all under 3 yrs old the meal she/he could have cooked instead of standing in a line for 30 mins...Smh some people put undo pressure on themselves then make it someone else's issue. Rachel Ray has a very good cookbook 30 min meals. And i find it hard to believe anyone who would stand in a fast food joint for 30 mins would throw away free food (coupons). Thinking wow 30 mins REALLY?
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5-20-2010 @12:21AM Pat said... Today---for $5.19---we had 2 regular vanilla malts, 1 regular chocolate malt, and 1 regular caramel shake at a Sonics in Columbus OH. First-time "trial" visit. Next time, we'll buy LARGE malts and shakes! Delicious!!!
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5-20-2010 @1:43AM Sandra Akin said... It wouldn't matter if they did give a coupon for a free anything, you couldn't pay me or my husband enough money to have to deal with the idiots who work at the Sonic close to my house, because it has the worst service of any fast food place I have ever been to.
Our orders were wrong 90% of the time, which is one of the big reasons my husband and I don't stop there anymore. The other reason is they take forever to respond to the drive up booths, and when they finally do, they can't understand the most simple order. For example my husband and I would stop by there after his wrestling practice, when they still had the 5 of 5 00 after 5pm on Tuesday's. Our order was always very simple. 2 drinks and 5 burgers with ketchup but no onions. For some reason, the idiot they had taking or order one night, didn't have a clue what ketchup was. I'm serious! I spelled Ketchup for her, and when that didn't work, I explained it was the red stuff made from tomatoes that many people put on burgers. That didn't help either, and she finally got someone else to take my order. That helped some, but I still had to explain what ketchup and spell it out for her, also. And when our burgers finally came, only one had ketchup and all had onion.
Several months after this incident we returned hoping the service was better. No such luck . They still had some sort of weird fear of Ketchup. You would have thought we were asking them to commit some sort of crime. Because the person taking my order on this particular night , when I asked for ketchup on our burgers, She aske in horror, "You want it on all of them!" Yes all of them. i told her, shaking my head and saying to myself, If I didn't want it on our burgers, I wouldn't have asked for it in the first place. And even that order was wrong, because half of them had Onions on them, and I said no onions.
I know they have been open for maybe 8 to 10 years, and have replaced managers at least 5 or 6 times, but the service is still horrible. I really don't know how this particular place stays in business.
Two years later after the last incident, I stopped by on my way home for work, on a Tuesday again, and ordered the same thing again. 5 burgers with ketchup, and no onions. I didn't have a problem with Ketchup this time, but their service was beyond slow. I expected it to take around 15 minutes from the time I pulled into the booth and hit the button for someone to take my order, and to get my food. Boy was I wrong. It took them 15 to respond to my call, and almost 20 to get my food. I was livid and when I returned, home I called the corporate office and gave them a piece of my mind about their sorry service and their fear of Ketchup .Apparently I was not the only complaint about this Sonic, and was informed they were in the process of replacing the manager. Trust me ,this didn't help either. We don't go by there anymore, but other have told me it's not any better.
There is decent Sonic we do stop by sometime, but since it is so far away from home, we don't go there often.
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5-20-2010 @4:26AM Cheryl Gafner said... We just got a new Sonic in Hayward California and it was AWESOME! The carhops were friendly and my order was repeated by the server so there were no mistakes! Clean too! (It's only three months old) I hope they keep up the good work. The foot long hotdog was great! Long live onions!
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5-22-2010 @11:51AM admirallee01 said... The Sonic we have where I live is a drive through or where you sit in your car and they bring it to you on roller skates. I've only ever had excellent food there and the service is great. Yesterday I went with a bunch of friends and the ice cream is a hit. It's awesome. The buy one get one free milkshake offer rocked, we got six milkshakes for the price of three.
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6-05-2010 @12:30AM ofschertzeTX said... The sonic in Schertze Tx ( that is somewhere outside of san antonio folks), is a good place. The have reasonably prompt service, friendly car hops, and they get the order right about 85% of the time. On the order thing we can cut them some slack... we are a picky crowd. However they are pricey... I mean for almost the same amount of money (actuelly cheaper) my husband and I can go and order chinese food with extra appetizers. yeah your thinking yeah you can go get crappy china express.... No We can go to Kowloons( really nice sit down resturant) order drinks, have the soup, order an appetizer, order two full meals with eggroll and crab rangoon. and leave a tip for the waitress. For what it costs to have lunch or dinner at sonic. So Kowloons is soooo much more cost effective in this economic climate we always end up getting togo boxes and eating the left overs for dinner the next night. and nothing is better for breakfast than an eggroll! So my point is if sonic really wants to fix their downturned sales... concidering the economy and that most of their menu is ..hmm food...maybe they should think about lowering their menu prices, cause lets see for 15 dollars you could get ( 2 burgers 2 fries and 2 drinks) OR ( 2 drinks 2 wonton soup 1 appatizer 2 entree of choice 2 fried rice 2 eggrolls 2 crab rangoon.) which would you say is the more reasonable buy? as far as their real icecream sales ploy... thats nice and thanks for offering a free shake.. i will buy the shake and it will be tasty... however the issue at hand is in this economy everyone is looking for more bang for their buck, and that is what alot of companies need to realize in this economy.
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