Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is celebrated the first Saturday in February and originated in Rochester, NY and created out of sheer winter boredom 50 years ago in the 1960s. Florence Rappaport, a mom in Rochester, NY. decided it was time to give her kids sometihing to look forward to, other than another day of gray skies and snowfall. So, she created this day with her two young boys. The exact year of the first ICFBD is unrecorded, but it is speculated to be 1966, when a huge blizzard hit Rochester in late January, dumping several feet of snow on Rochester and shutting down schools. When the siblings grew up, they held parties and introduced the tradition to friends while in college, and the tradition began to spread.
The holiday began to spread across the world thanks to Florence's grandchildren, who have traveled extensively. Celebrations have been recorded in Nepal, Namibia, Germany, and Honduras. Some are small family celebrations and others are larger parties. The holiday has even been celebrated in China since 2003 and was featured in the Chinese edition of Cosmopolitan magazine and local magazines in Hangzhou, China. Ice Cream for Breakfast Day enjoys particular popularity in Israel. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on ICFBD in 2013 in Hebrew and then in 2014 in English.
There are reasons to celebrate every week throughout the year. There is no fanfare or big hype. You can download the 2015 restaurant marketing calendar spreadsheet here and take note of special (or weird) days to celebrate.
The marketing calendar Excel spreadsheet for 2015 is one of many free restaurant forms available and includes a long list of marketing activities. Typically I customize this speadsheet for each business and take it to a local printer. The cost to print a poster sized marketing calendar is about $20 and once it is on the wall, the marketing calendar becomes a central hub for planning.
I certainly don't want to dissuade you from using the power of software, tools, widgets or apps but in a brick and mortar business, having a poster sized marketing calendar on the wall remains a powerful tool for any team.
Restaurants have an opportunity most other businesses do not. Restaurants become the central hub for all things celebration. There are thousands of holidays and celebrations most people are unaware of. I will take a moment to highlight more of these opportunities to celebrate with the hope that you will "get it" and be inspired to double your sales based on celebrations just as I have for decades.
Watch for it on February 7th this year. Get your ice cream ready!
"International Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day" is just one of many unique and interesting days celebrated in 2015. Download your marketing calender for more here:
