Dunkin' Donuts Giving Away Free Coffee on April Fools' Day - But There's a Catch
The origins of April Fools' Day date back to before 1600 when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563, according to the History Channel.
"In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1," the History Channel revealed. "People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called 'April fools.'
April Fools' Day lives on with relatively benign tricks mostly carried out by friends and family. However, every now and then a major corporation gets involved in the fun with a joke of their own.
Dunkin Donuts Offering Free Coffee - But There's a Catch
Dunkin' Donuts jumped in on the fun, but with an actual offer for customers.
"Last April Fools’, we gave away a million free coffees, and some of you thought it was a prank. We didn’t forget that," Dunkin Donuts said on its website. "So this year, we’re doing it again. Just a little bigger. We’re giving away 1,000,001 free coffees. That extra one is for anyone still not convinced."
While Dunkin' is giving away free coffee, yes actually, there is a catch. The free coffees are limited to Dunkin' rewards members.
"On Wednesday, April 1,Dunkin’ Rewards members can get a FREE Cup of Coffee*. No tricks, just your coffee run, on us. All you have to do is open your Dunkin’ app and enter the promo code StillNotAJoke," it said.
The coffee company admitted the fun holiday comes with "trust issues" but promises to provide (select) customers with a free coffee.
The promo code for Dunkin' rewards members is valid on April 1. A free coffee certificate is valid for 7 days after promo code entry, but cold brew and extra-large hot coffee are not included.