Everybody loves free stuff — but free food is always particularly enjoyable. As such, I am delighted to share with you how to get a free Auntie Anne’s pretzel today. Why today? July 26 is National Aunt and Uncle’s Day, so in honor of the occasion (which the bakery chain is referring to as "Auntie Day" — get it?), Auntie Anne's is offering a BOGO pretzel deal: If you buy one pretzel, you can get another absolutely free. What’s more, the deal is actually good for more than just today; according to a tweet from Auntie Anne’s, you can redeem your free pretzel anytime between July 23 and July 30. That means you’ve still got a few days to jump on the soft and salty pretzel wagon, even if you don’t have time to make it to an Auntie Anne’s today. Hoorah!
Weirdly, no one seems to know much about who created National Aunt and Uncle’s Day; most of the information floating around on the internet about it notes only that it’s an unofficial holiday celebrated each year on July 26. When it comes to the history of the day, the most that many online sources will typically say is something like, “Within our research, we were unable to find the creator or the origin of National Aunt and Uncle’s Day.”
But, hey, I’ll take a free pretzel anyway, thank you very much; I'm an aunt twice over, so I count, right? Worth noting, though, is the fact that you can’t just show up to your local Auntie Anne’s and demand a free treat; you do have to do a little legwork and retrieve a coupon from Auntie Anne’s website. The coupon is easily accessible, though — you can find it here — so it shouldn’t take too much time or energy to get. And BOGO pretzels are worth it anyway, right?
Auntie Anne’s is encouraging people to bring both an auntie and the coupon with them when they go to get their pretzels — the idea behind the BOGO deal is, after all, to treat both yourself and your favorite auntie to a pretzel — but bringing someone else with you doesn’t seem to be a requirement of the deal; the coupon itself simply states that, by presenting said coupon at purchase, you’re entitled to one free Handmade Classic Pretzel with the purchase of another Handmade Classic Pretzel. That means that if you, uh, don’t actually feel like bringing an aunt, friend, or other loved one along, you can still get a free pretzel as long as you have the coupon with you.
Oh, and fun fact: National Aunt and Uncle’s Day isn’t the only holiday dedicated to celebrating aunties that exists. As writer and Savvy Auntie founder Melanie Notkin chimed in on Twitter, there is an actual Auntie’s Day which has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday in July for the past 10 years. Notkin created Auntie’s Day in 2009 a “a reminder to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate the aunt(s) in a child’s life, whether she is an Auntie by Relation (ABR) or an Auntie by Choice (ABC) to friend’s children,” according to a recent press release. As a growing number of women opt to remain childless, but still maintain “a special bond with at least one child in their life,” Notkin sought to find a way to celebrate their contributions and love that traditional family-oriented holidays often overlook.
“It’s time that all women in the American Family Village are honored for their love and generosity for the children in their lives,” she said in a statement. “Many aunts provide ‘QualAuntie Time’ and fun ‘Auntventures,’ for their nieces and nephews, not to mention gifts and necessities. Many non-moms also give tirelessly to children all over the world. These BenevolAunts are due their day to be honored.” In 2018, Auntie’s Day occurred on July 22 — not quite within Auntie Anne’s window of opportunity for the BOGO pretzel deal, but close enough.
In any event, if you and your favorite aunt or pal have been craving a little bit of salt lately, head on over to a participating Auntie Anne’s location in the United States, bring along this coupon, and have yourselves a BOGO pretzel party. Happy munching!
