{"id":5840,"date":"2026-04-24T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=5840"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:00:55","slug":"japanese-convenience-store-gives-away-free-ice-cream-with-creative-ad-at-shinjuku-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=5840","title":{"rendered":"Japanese convenience store gives away free ice cream with creative ad at Shinjuku Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

An even more convenient way to get ice cream.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever someone from overseas raves about Japanese convenience stores, they\u2019re usually talking about the big three \u2013 7-Eleven<\/strong>, Family<\/strong> Mart<\/strong>, and Lawson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u25bc However, there\u2019s another well-known chain that\u2019s often overlooked: Ministop<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite being well-known, Ministop reported a net loss of 5.6 billion yen (US$35 million) for the fiscal year ending February 2026, its third consecutive year in the red. The news has sparked concern among longtime fans, with #SaveMinistop<\/strong> now appearing as a hashtag on social media. Support is so strong that some fans have been intentionally purchasing items with the best product margins, and one of those products is the soft serve, which the chain is famous for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Given its financial background, you\u2019d expect the chain to be tightening its purse-strings, cutting corners and doubling down on efforts to turn a profit at all costs. But instead, it\u2019s doing something entirely different: giving away free soft serves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The free offer is a very limited-time affair, and only available through the unique, eye-catching ad pictured below, which has just popped up at the Metro Promenade at Shinjuku Station.<\/p>\n

\u25bc The sign here says: \u201cI\u2019ve found an outrageous ad<\/strong>\u201c.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Our reporter Mr Sato stumbled upon the ad by accident as he was walking through the station, and as he walked towards it, he could see a row of people lined up beneath the words \u201c\u5fc5\u305a\u5f53\u305f\u308b\u201d which means \u201cguaranteed win\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A guaranteed win is something Mr Sato can never pass up, so he joined the crowd at the poster and copied what they were doing by pressing his phone to the \u201cTouch with your Smartphone\u201d spot, circled below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although the system seemed to work for everyone else there, Mr Sato\u2019s phone did nothing \u2013 his Motorola razr50<\/strong> was unresponsive. Whipping out his backup phone, a Google Pixel 7a<\/strong>, this too did nothing so he asked the staff there for advice, and they told him that Android devices like these might be slow to respond<\/strong>. They suggested he try other touchpoints, but there was still no response, even when he tried them all.<\/p>\n

So he took out his other backup, an\u00a0iPhone<\/strong> SE2<\/strong>, and it worked immediately, lighting up his screen with a message saying he\u2019d won a coupon.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Mr Sato is a man of many phones.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The winning message had \u201cTokyo Asakusa Station North Exit Store\u201d written at the top as the place to redeem the coupon, but it can be redeemed at any store in the country. If you do want to have the message show a different store, you can change it by spinning a roulette wheel, according to the steps below.<\/p>\n

\u25bc Scroll down as instructed\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u2026then tap the blue \u201cspin the roulette wheel again\u201d button.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This will switch to a random store every time you tap it, and you can spin it as many times as you like before hitting the yellow \u201cGet Free Coupon\u201d button.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Mr Sato to get a store nearby, so when \u201cShinjuku Hanazono Dori\u201d popped up as an option, he hit the yellow button.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That took him to a new page with a barcode, which he was instructed to take a screenshot of for staff to scan when redeeming his free soft serve.\u00a0The free offer is only available from 20-26 April, and limited to one per customer, with coupons needing to be redeemed from 20 April to 10 May.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although Mr Sato\u2019s screen said \u201cShinjuku Hanazono Dori\u201d, he chose to use it at a different branch closer to his home. Sure enough, there were no hiccups as he was able to receive his free soft serve by simply presenting the coupon to staff at the register.<\/p>\n

\u25bc The smile of a man who went through three smartphones to get a free ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As he licked his sweet reward, Mr Sato learned that Ministop\u2019s soft serve underwent a revamp last April, changing from a \u201cVanilla Soft Serve\u201d to a \u201cHokkaido Milk Soft Serve <\/strong> .\u201d Earlier this month, the chain reportedly renewed the cone\u2019s ingredients, replacing some of the wheat flour with whole wheat flour and adding calcium, so the free campaign looks to be a concerted effort by the chain to get everyone to try the new ice cream.<\/p>\n

For Mr Sato, the soft serve tasted better than he\u2019d remembered it, and not just because it was free. It was creamy and fresh, with a high-quality flavour you\u2019d expect from milk sourced from Hokkaido, Japan\u2019s premier milk-producing region. With summer just around the corner, the free campaign is a perfect way to remind everyone about the wonders of Ministop ice cream, and if you\u2019re looking for a novel way to enjoy it, then this hack will help you view the humble ice cream in a whole new light<\/a>, and hopefully keep Ministop in business.<\/p>\n

Images\u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An even more convenient way to get ice cream.\u00a0 Whenever someone from overseas raves about Japanese convenience stores, they\u2019re usually talking about the big three \u2013 7-Eleven, Family Mart, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}