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THERE were more than 500 people queuing ahead of him.
But that did not stop 32-year-old Christopher Ang from staying in the snaking queue for his free ice cream at noon.
The IT consultant was one of the more than 7,000 people who turned up at the Ben & Jerry's flagship store at VivoCity yesterday and received a free cone of ice cream as part of the famed ice cream store's annual Free Cone Day.
The event, which took place at Ben & Jerry's stores globally, was held at eight of the brand's 10 stores located around Singapore.
At noon, following a countdown and amid sprays of confetti, the event started as more than 200 staff from Ben & Jerry's, along with Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen and celebrity food consultant Violet Oon dished out close to 7,040 scoops of ice cream in five different flavours - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, New York Super Fudge Chunk, Strawberry Cheesecake and Chunky Monkey.
In total, the company dished out close to 50,000 scoops of ice cream - smashing their record of 42,000 last year.
The Free Cone Day, which was Ben & Jerry's way of thanking their customers, also raised funds for the Singapore Children's Society.
The Brand Champion, for Ben & Jerry's, Mr Tan Lee Ken said: 'At Ben & Jerry's, we want to build on our social mission of giving back to society while saying a big ?thank you' to our customers, retailers, suppliers and staff.'
As the Brand Champion, Mr Tan oversees the operation and marketing of all the Ben & Jerry's outlets in Singapore.
He added: 'Children and family form the core of our mission and this year, we're aiming to raise $200,000 for charity.'
The company spent more than $250,000 on ice cream alone and another $150,000 on publicity and advertising costs for the event.
Although the ice cream was free, some Singaporeans donated between $2 and $5 towards the charity, while some were even spotted slipping $10 notes into the donation boxes.
However, for the 20 minutes this reporter stood by the donation boxes observing how much people donated on the average, at least three out of every 10 customers did not put any money into the donation boxes at all.
The seemingly endless line of customers snaked from within the shopping mall to the outdoor foyer. But despite having to wait for almost 20 minutes, Mr Ang said it was worth the wait.
He explained: 'Ben & Jerry's has good ice cream. They are giving it out free and it is partly for charity as well. The queue is moving rather quickly and it is very organised.'
Mr Abdul Rashid, 28, a webmaster, agreed: 'It's a win-win situation for everyone. Marketing for the store is done, we get the free ice cream and money is raised for charity.'
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