Posted by Blizz Prez under Uncategorized on January 8th, 2013
When was the last time you were in a good old-fashioned snowball fight? How about a bad one? It’s kind of like dodgeball but way less organized. I was never super clear on the rules. I mean, in the movies, there are always victors who celebrate as the losers run home to their mothers. But how do you score points? How do you know when it’s over? When the other team runs home to their mothers. Fair enough. I guess you don’t have to understand everything about something in order to enjoy it. I could never explain how a Blizzard®Treat stays in the cup when you flip it upside down, but that won’t stop me from turning it right-side up and putting in my mouth. I still don’t like getting hit with snowballs, though.
When I think back to when I was a child, all of my holiday memories are happy ones. Wonderful meals, Christmas carols playing and family gatherings made for a very special time of year.
One of the traditions that I enjoyed the most was the search for the perfect Christmas tree. My grandparents lived on a 100-acre farm and it was a tradition to go into the forest to hunt for and cut down the perfect tree. The entire family would join – aunts, uncles, cousins – and we’d make a day of it.
Some of the grandkids would ride in the bucket of my grandfather’s tractor and others would be pulled in a sled behind a snowmobile. The cold weather and snow didn’t stop us; in fact it made it even more fun!
After the perfect trees were found, they’d be loaded into the tractor bucket and brought back to the farm house. My grandmother would have hot cocoa and fresh baked cookies waiting for us. Nothing warmed rosy cheeks and cold hands better than Grandma’s treats.
Now that I have my own children, the tradition of cutting down a tree is one that I have carried on. Although we no longer have a family farm, there are several tree farms in our area that offer a great experience. Its lots of fun to hop on the back of a tractor-pulled wagon and go out into the forest and find the perfect (or not-so-perfect) tree that will grace our home for the season. It’s that time of year for my family and I to go out and get our tree and I can hardly wait to make the trip.
What holiday traditions have you carried on since your childhood?
Posted by PR Wonk under Uncategorized on May 17th, 2012
Each year, on the first Saturday in May, tens of thousands of shareholders descend on Omaha, Neb., to attend the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting and hear pearls of investing wisdom from Warren Buffett, (a.k.a. the “Oracle of Omaha”) and his partner Charlie Munger. As part of the meeting, Berkshire companies host exhibit booths where shareholders can purchase such items as T-shirts and undergarments from Fruit of the Loom; get insurance quotes from GEICO; buy sets of GINZU knives or purchase kitchen utensils from Papered Chef.
Throughout the day at the Dairy Queen® booth, shareholders come to us to purchase Dilly® Bars, DQ® Fudge Bars and DQ Vanilla Orange Bars for $1 with proceeds from the sale going to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Our team of more than 40 employees, including our executive officers, provides hungry, but smiling customers with satisfying and delicious DQ treats. Typically we sell more than 16,000 individual treats in a little more than nine hours and this year was no exception. We often hear, “I can’t leave the meeting without getting my Dilly Bar” which always puts a smile on our faces.
The day is long, but we couldn’t have a better time greeting and interacting with the shareholders. And oh yeah, Warren stops by the booth before the meeting begins to purchase his favorite DQ Vanilla Orange Bar, which we have ready and waiting for him. At DQ, our investment philosophy is, “Always make sure the boss is happy.” And when you’re Warren Buffett and own the entire Dairy Queen system, how could you not be?
Every once in a while we at the Dairy Queen® home office get a customer request for the return of the “Goony Bird Sundae.” Sadly, this particular Royal Treat® will not be returning any time soon to the DQ® menu. But just for fun, here’s a picture (circa 1959) of this, uh, unique treat:
If you were a fan, please, tell us what you liked about this “crazy mixed-up taste triumph of toasted marshmallows and coconut”!
American Dairy Queen Corporation believes in giving back to the communities in which we live, work and do business – it’s simply one of the core values of our corporation. Recently ADQ hosted a group of employees from The Cookie Cart, a nonprofit organization that trains and supports North Minneapolis youth in their first paid job experience.
Our Research & Development department put on a fun and educational program about careers in food science. And of course, everyone got to make their own Blizzard® Treat!
Posted by admin under Uncategorized on February 2nd, 2012
Well, unless you just don’t really care whether or not a rodent wakes up from his slumber to make an appearance determining whether or not YOU have to deal with six more weeks of winter or only six weeks until spring…
…Wait a second. Six more weeks of winter or only six weeks until spring? Well, that’s the same thing! Are you trying to tell me that Groundhog Day is made up and doesn’t really mean anything?! I suppose next you’re going to tell me there isn’t an Easter Bunny…
All of this being said, I’m sure someone, somewhere down the line, decided it’d be fun to make up a holiday to signify the coming of spring. Personally I wouldn’t have included aforementioned rodent but, that’s neither here nor there. When I first started dating my husband he told me we had to go to dinner at his parents’ house for “Kids’ Day.” I asked him just exactly what THAT was. He told me it is a holiday on his maternal grandfather’s birthday that his mom made up because his grandpa loved kids. Right.
Not one to turn down a free meal and candy, I was more than happy to partake in Kids’ Day. And thus, the tradition continues.
Do you have any special occasions in your family that, while real to you, are made up to the rest of us? And how do you celebrate?
Posted by Blizz Prez under Uncategorized on January 31st, 2012
January 31st is Backward Day. But you already knew that. You’ve been looking backward to it for some time now. So, buttons to the rear, tag in front and dessert before dinner. That’s right. Forget what your mother told: the Blizzard®Treat’s got first dibs on your taste buds. It’s quite possible that this could turn out to be my favorite holiday of the year––well, right after Everybody Buy the Blizz Prez a Blizzard Treat Day. But that’s not until May.
Posted by Blizz Prez under Uncategorized on January 24th, 2012
Hey fans! I thought we’d have a friendly showdown this week between two classics. Of course, it’s impossible to choose to just one, but, let’s just say you had to… Cookie Dough Blizzard Treat or OREO®Blizzard Treat? It’s cookie vs. cookie. Who will emerge the victor?
There are a lot of celebrity fragrances released around the holidays. I mean, A LOT. Don’t get me wrong, I love smelling famous as much as anyone, but it got me thinking that maybe now’s the time to cash in. I even have an idea for a television commercial.
It’s filmed in black and white (of course). We see a shot of the ocean, a shot of a galloping horse, and a shot of me running through a field in slow motion, cape billowing in the breeze. There’s the flash of a camera and another shot of the horse. We slowly pan across my eyes and then cut back to the horse. Suddenly, a blindfolded man approaches me on a giraffe. There’s a close-up on my mouth as I mutter some words in French and the subtitles reveal, “It appears that you could use a treat.” The man on the giraffe releases a single white dove into the sky, and we hear an authoritative, yet gentle voice intone as we close on the product shot:
“Introducing a delicious new fragrance from the Blizz Prez: Eau de Cookie Dough.”
I mean, we could always call it something else. What do you think? What would you call my Blizz fragrance?
Does anyone else agree with me that there doesn’t need to be a dedicated day for cranky co-workers? Yes, true story it’s one of those crazy days of recognition that exists. I mean, maybe it’s me but it seems you can come across this everyday if you’d like. Of course it’s rarely ever you that is cranky, crabby, or less than cheery but on those ever so occasional days when it happens, what cheers you up? For me it can be something as little as a coffee break, hot fudge DQ milkshake or lunch out with friends.
