Friendly's says Free Ice Cream Day a hit

Friendly Ice Cream Corp., the Wilbraham company that operates the Friendly's chain of more than 500 family restaurants, said it gave away more than 500,000 scoops of ice cream during its Free Ice Cream Day promotion on June 6.

That number was up from roughly 300,000 scoops given away on Free Ice Cream Day in 2008, the company said.

Friendly's attributed the increase to "blog coverage and the company's social media presence."

Friendly's added in a press release, "A new company Twitter feed along with an active Facebook fan page drove momentum and consumer anticipation."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff. File photo: Lane Turner, Globe staff.)