Dairy Queen, often abbreviated
DQ, is a
chainChain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
of
soft serveSoft serve is a term used to describe a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.- History :...
and
fast food restaurantA fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...
s owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns
Orange JuliusOrange Julius is a chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s. The eponymous beverage is a mixture of orange juice, milk, sugar, ice and vanilla flavoring.- History :...
and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their
soft serveSoft serve is a term used to describe a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.- History :...
product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or "DQ". The first Dairy Queen store opened in 1940 in
Joliet, IllinoisJoliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. The company's corporate offices are located in
Edina, MinnesotaEdina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
.
History
The soft serve formula was first developed in 1938 by John Fremont "Grandpa" McCullough (1871‒1963), his son Alex McCullough. They convinced friend and customer Herb Noble to offer the product in his ice cream store in
Kankakee, IllinoisKankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County...
. On the first day of sales, Noble dished out more than 1,600 servings of the new dessert within two hours. Noble and the McCulloughs went on to open the first Dairy Queen store in 1940 in
Joliet, IllinoisJoliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. While this Dairy Queen is no longer in operation, the building is still located at 501 N Chicago St. Since 1940, DQ has used a
franchiseFranchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
system to expand its operations globally. The state with the most Dairy Queen restaurants is Texas. The Texas Dairy Queen Operators' Council facilitates marketing and the food system in Texas. Dairy Queen International is the parent company of Dairy Queen. In the US it operates under American Dairy Queen. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Berkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
. At the end of its fiscal year 2006, Dairy Queen reported over 5,600 stores in more than a dozen countries; about 4,600 of its stores (approximately 85%) were located in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
DQ was an early pioneer of food
franchisingFranchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
, expanding its 10 stores in 1941 to 100 by 1947, 1,446 in 1950, and 2,600 in 1955. The first store in Canada opened in Estevan, Saskatchewan, in 1953. The red Dairy Queen symbol was introduced in 1959. The company became International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) in 1962. It was acquired by
Berkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
in 1998. Dairy Queens were a fixture of social life in small towns of the Midwestern and Southern United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In that role they have often come to be referenced as a symbol of life in small-town America, as in
Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond by
Larry McMurtryLarry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...
,
Dairy Queen Days by
Robert InmanRobert Anthony Inman was an American educator, journalist and author.Inman was the son of Verne Inman, M.D., former chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UCSF. He was born in San Francisco and attended Grattan School and Lowell High, achieving the highest honors...
, and
Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights by
Bob GreeneRobert Bernard Greene, Jr. is an American journalist. He worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was an award-winning columnist. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael...
.
As of 2010, Dairy Queen had more than 5,700 stores in 19 countries, including 652 locations outside the United States and Canada. With Dairy Queen being one of the largest soft serve franchises in the world, their main competition includes:
Baskin-RobbinsBaskin-Robbins is a global chain of ice cream parlors founded by Burt Baskin and Irvine Robbins in 1953, from the merging of their respective ice cream parlors, in Glendale, California. It claims to be the world's largest ice cream franchise, with more than 5,800 locations, 2,800 of which are...
,
Ben & Jerry'sBen & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...
,
Braum'sBraum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores is a family-owned and operated chain of fast-food restaurants and grocery stores based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with a large concentration on dairy products....
, Carvel,
Culver'sCulver’s is a privately owned and operated fast casual restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Midwestern United States. The first Culver’s opened in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin...
, Foster's Freeze,
Good Times Burgers & Frozen CustardGood Times Burgers & Frozen Custard is a Golden, Colorado-based fast-food restaurant specializing in premium burgers and fresh frozen custard. Good Times Restaurants Inc. owns and operates 46 Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard locations, 44 in Colorado, with locations in Wyoming, North Dakota, and...
,
McDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
,
Sonic Drive-InSonic Drive-In is an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, complete with carhops who sometimes wear rollerskates. As of August 31, 2010, there were 3,500 restaurants in 43 U.S. states. Sonic serves approximately 3 million customers daily.-1950s:Following...
,
Tastee FreezTastee-Freez is a Newport Beach, California-based franchised chain of fast-food restaurants with stores in 22 of the United States, with most of its stores located in Virginia, Illinois and Maryland. Currently there are fewer than 100 freestanding stores in the United States and Panama. It was...
, and
TCBYTCBY is an international franchise chain of frozen yogurt stores based in the United States. It is the largest U.S. retailer of soft-serve frozen yogurt with live active cultures....
. The Busiest Dairy Queen is found in
CharlottetownCharlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
,
Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
.
Stores
The company's stores are operated under several brands, all bearing the distinctive Dairy Queen logo and carrying the company's signature soft-serve ice cream (along with the trademark "curl"). In the 1970s, most Dairy Queen restaurants were "Brazier" locations with a second floor for storage, recognizable for their red
gambrelA gambrel is a usually-symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom on the building's upper level...
-shaped roofs.
Standard stores
Stores which serve a very abbreviated menu primarily feature DQ frozen treats. These locations may be open only during spring and summer; many year-round locations are located in shopping malls.
So-called "Limited Brazier" locations may additionally offer hot dogs, barbecue beef (or pork) sandwiches, and in some cases
french friesFrench fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
and chicken, but not hamburgers.
DQ / Orange Julius
Also known as the "Treat Center" concept, an enhanced version of the original DQ also serves drinks and foods from the
Orange JuliusOrange Julius is a chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s. The eponymous beverage is a mixture of orange juice, milk, sugar, ice and vanilla flavoring.- History :...
menu. This is the company's preferred concept for new, small-scale locations, primarily in
shopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
food courts.
Dairy Queen Brazier
Stores serve a normal fast-food menu featuring burgers, french fries, and processed fried chicken products in addition to frozen treats and hot dogs. Due to the protracted rollout of the Grill & Chill concept, Brazier restaurants have been allowed to sell certain products originally restricted to G&C, including GrillBurgers.
The name "Brazier" originated in 1957, when one of the company's franchisees worked to develop a food system that would work for all Dairy Queen restaurants. A
brazierA brazier is a container for fire, generally taking the form of an upright standing or hanging metal bowl or box. Used for holding burning coal as well as fires, a brazier allows for a source of light, heat, or cooking...
is a cooking device consisting of a charcoal or electric heating source over which food is grilled. The term "Brazier" was the result of a brainstorming session with the franchisee's advertising agency.
The "Brazier" name has been slowly phased out of signage and advertising since 1993, although until recently it had not been removed from existing signage. Since the early 2000s, new or renovated locations which are similar to Brazier restaurants in terms of size and menu selection, but have been updated with the current DQ logo and/or exterior, usually carry the name "DQ Restaurant", although the DQ website's Store Locator still lists the non-G&C stores as "Dairy Queen Brazier" and the smaller stores "Dairy Queen Ltd Brazier".
However The DQ website still considers their burger and hot dog lines as "Brazier Foods", according to the History section of the DQ website and some FAQ listed topics in the DQ website.
DQ Grill & Chill
This is DQ's preferred concept for new and renovated full-service restaurants. Stores are larger than older-style DQ Brazier locations and feature a completely new store design. In most cases, they offer an expanded menu including breakfast, GrillBurgers, and grilled sandwiches, as well as limited table service (customers still place orders at the counter). They also contain self-serve soft drink fountains. Some of the DQ Brazier stores have upgraded to the DQ G&C stores. However, there are still DQ Brazier stores and DQ Ltd.-Brazier stores that have not upgraded to the DQ G&C stores. The nation's largest Grill & Chill is located in
Bloomington, IllinoisBloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
.
Texas Country Foods
Most locations in Texas, including those which otherwise resemble the Brazier or Grill & Chill formats, use a separate hot food menu branded as
Texas Country Foods. Among other differences, "Hungr-Buster" burgers are available in place of the Brazier and GrillBurger offerings. Other food offerings not found outside Texas include the Dude chicken fried steak sandwich, Grilled chicken sandwich, Country Baskets (steak fingers and chicken strips) and T-Brand Tacos.
Texas is home to the largest number of Dairy Queens in the U.S. All Texas Dairy Queen restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees. The Texas Dairy Queen Operators' Council (TDQOC) runs a separate marketing website from the national website, located at
www.dqtexas.com.
Bob PhillipsRobert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
, host of the popular Texas syndicated
television seriesA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Texas Country ReporterTexas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
, was for many years the DQ spokesman in Texas, as the restaurant was a co-sponsor of the program at the time.
Products
The company's products expanded to include
maltMalt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
s and
milkshakeA milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream or iced milk, and flavorings or sweeteners such as fruit syrup or chocolate sauce....
s in 1949,
banana splitA banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a boat. A banana is cut in half lengthwise and laid in the dish. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in...
s in 1951,
Dilly Bars in 1955,
Mr. Misty slush treats in 1961 (later renamed
Misty Slush, then again to
Arctic Rush), and a range of
hamburgerA hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
s and other cooked foods under the
Brazier banner in 1958. In 1967 the Peanut Buster Parfait, consisting of peanuts, hot fudge, and vanilla soft serve, was introduced. Other items include
sundaeThe sundae is an ice cream dessert. It typically consists of a scoop of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup, and in some cases other toppings including chopped nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, or maraschino cherries.-History:...
s and the blended
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
drink, the MooLatte, controversial because of its resemblance to the racial descriptor Mulatto.
Dairy Queen's one hundred (as of 1997) Japanese stores offered hamburgers, but competition from
McDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
made the chain switch to
pitaPita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...
sandwiches.
The majority of Dairy Queen locations serve
Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
products, but unlike most other restaurants such contracts are not mandated onto the franchisee, and as a result some locations serve
PepsiPepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
products instead.
SubwaySubway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
(until 2003) and
Arby'sArby's is a fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. Roark Capital Group owns 81.5% of the company, with Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. It is primarily known for selling roast beef sandwiches and curly fries. The Arby's menu also includes chicken sandwiches, appetizers,...
(until 2006) also allowed such leniency on beverage choice before signing exclusive soft drink deals with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, respectively, making Dairy Queen the last major restaurant chain without an exclusive soft drink contract.
Blizzard
A popular Dairy Queen item is the
Blizzard, which is soft-serve mechanically blended with
mix-inA mix-in is a term used to describe a dessert made of ice cream and another flavoring such as candy. Mix-in desserts are traditionally sold in an ice cream parlor and are made at the time of ordering...
ingredients such as sundae toppings and/or pieces of cookies, brownies, or candy. It has been a staple on the menu since its introduction in 1985, a year in which Dairy Queen sold 100 million Blizzards. Popular Blizzard flavors include:
OreoOreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
Cookies,
mintMiNT is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST and its successors. Together with the free system components fVDI , XaAES , and TeraDesk , MiNT provides a free TOS compatible replacement OS that is capable of multitasking.MiNT was originally released by Eric Smith as...
OreoOreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco Division of Kraft Foods. The current design consists of a sweet, white filling commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme', sandwiched between two circular chocolate or golden cookie pieces....
,
chocolate chipChocolate chips are small chunks of chocolate. They are often sold in a round, flat-bottomed teardrop shape. They are available in numerous sizes, from large to miniature, but are usually around 1 cm in diameter.-Origin:...
cookie doughCookie dough refers to a blend of cookie ingredients which has been mixed into a malleable form which has not yet been hardened by heat. The dough is often then separated and the portions baked to individual cookies, or eaten as is....
,
M&M'sM&M's are dragée-like "colorful button-shaped candies" produced by Mars, Incorporated...
(Smarties in Canada), Reese's Peanut Butter Cup,
Heath barThe Heath bar is an American candy bar made of toffee, marketed by L.S. Heath beginning in 1928, subsequently by Leaf, Inc., and since 1996 by Hershey....
, and
ButterfingerButterfinger is a candy bar made by Nestlé.The bar consists of a flaky, orange-colored center—somewhat similar texture to crisp caramel, with a taste similar to peanut butter—that is coated in compound chocolate.- History :...
. Seasonal flavors are also available such as October's
Pumpkin PiePumpkin pie is a traditional sweet dessert, often eaten during the fall and early winter, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States and Canada. The pumpkin is a symbol of harvest time and featured also at Halloween....
. It has been argued that Dairy Queen drew its inspiration from the
concrete served by the
St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
based
Ted DrewesTed Drewes is a frozen custard shop in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The original St. Louis shop on Natural Bridge Road operated from 1930 to 1958. The Chippewa Street is open much of the year, the South Grand Boulevard location is open in summer. The Chippewa location is open until around midnight...
. On July 26, 2010, Dairy Queen introduced a new "mini" size Blizzard, served in 6 oz. cups.
Prior to the introduction of the Blizzard in 1985, Dairy Queen served conventional "thick" milk shakes, in traditional flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, with or without added malt, also used the name "Blizzard" as the name of the product.
In addition, Dairy Queen is marketing its new Blizzard Cake which includes flavors such as
strawberryThe garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa, is a hybrid species that is cultivated worldwide for its fruit, the strawberry. The fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness...
cheesecakeCheesecake is a dessert consisting of a topping made of soft, fresh cheese, usually on a crust or base made from biscuit , pastry or sponge cake. They may be baked or unbaked...
and Reese's. Much like the restaurant's conventional
ice cream cakeIce cream cake is either ice cream in the shape of a cake or ice cream and cake layered together to make a single form. The idea of ice cream cake came from desserts composed of cream and cookies or cake called trifles, which first turned up in the Renaissance...
, this variation is aimed toward celebrations and birthdays.
Frozen yogurt
In 1990, Dairy Queen began offering
frozen yogurtFrozen yogurt is a frozen dessert containing yogurt or other dairy products. It is slightly more tart than ice cream, as well as lower in fat...
as a lower-calorie alternative to its soft serve ice cream. According to a company representative, Dairy Queen's regular soft serve has 35 calories per ounce and is 95% fat free, whereas the frozen yogurt was 25 calories per ounce. However, in 2001, the company phased out the frozen yogurt option in all its stores citing a lack of demand, the low sales of which made it difficult to keep the product fresh.
In 2010, International Dairy Queen Inc filed a request for a preliminary injunction to stop Yogubliz Inc, a small California-based frozen yogurt chain, from selling "Blizzberry" and "Blizz Frozen Yogurt", alleging that the names could confuse consumers due to their similarity to Dairy Queen's Blizzard. U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner denied Dairy Queen's request.
Advertising
For many years the franchise's slogan was "We treat you right." During the early and mid 1990s, the slogan "Hot Eats, Cool Treats" came into use and preceded the aforementioned line in the Dairy Queen
jingleA jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
. In recent years, it has been changed to "DQ: Something Different." The new slogan, featured in early 2011, is "So Good It's RiDQulous," with Dairy Queen's current logo infused in the word 'ridiculous'.
In Texas, at the end of the advertisement, there is a Texas flag waving, and the Texas state with the new DQ logo and slogan below saying, "That's What I Like About Texas."
Dennis the MenaceDennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. It debuted on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate...
appeared in Dairy Queen marketing from 1971 until 2001, when he was dropped because Dairy Queen felt children could no longer relate to him.
The advertising recently focused on a mouth licking its large lips, which later transforms into the present Dairy Queen logo.
In 2011, the outlandish new spots feature a dapper man played by John Behlmann, sporting a moustache, performing crazy feats for Dairy Queen. After announcing tasty menu offers, he would do something outrageous, like blow bubbles with kittens in them, water ski while boxing, and break a
piñataA piñata is a papier-mâché or other type of container that is decorated, filled with toys and or candy and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration. Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but its origins are considered to be in China...
where Olympic gymnastics great
Mary Lou RettonMary Lou Retton is an American gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, after 14 Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.-Personal life:Retton was born in Fairmont, West...
tumbles out.
Logos
The original Dairy Queen logo was simply a stylized text sign with a soft serve cone at one end. In the late 1950s, the widely recognized red ovoid design was adopted. The initial shape was asymmetrical, with one of the side points having a greater extension than the other, especially when matched with the Brazier sign—a similarly sized yellow ovoid, tucked diagonally below its companion. By the 1970s, both sides were more closely matched, becoming symmetrical with the 2006 update [see Yahoo! images for comparison]. Some of the new 1950s signs continued to display a soft serve cone jutting from the right side. "Little Miss Dairy Queen" began appearing in Pennsylvania signage in 1961. She had a Dutch bonnet, resembling the ovoid logo, with a pinafore apron over her dress and wooden shoes. A yellow trapezoid Brazier sign, placed below the red Dairy Queen logo, was developed in the late 1960s. It matched the roofline of the new store design of the era.
Although it had been used interchangeably with the Dairy Queen name for many decades, "DQ" became the company's official name in 2001. The font remained the same as the original signage introduced 60 years prior. Throughout this period, the company placed the
registered markA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
symbol immediately to the right, on the bottom side of the logo. When the company modernized its signage and logos in late 2006, it modified the font and italicized the letters, as well as adding arced lines, an orange to represent its hot foods above and a
blueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
one below to represent its ice cream products. Additionally, in the new design the
registered markA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
symbol was moved to be adjacent to the letter "Q". The first overhaul of its logo in almost 70 years, the company claimed that the new logo would show brand growth and reflect the "fun and enjoyment" associated with its products. Advertising industry observers have noted that the new logo was an unneeded update of known and trusted industry brand and that its new features were distracting.
The original signage is still in use in older locations or in locations that use a "retro" design motif in the property's design. One example is the sign used at the Dairy Queen in
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Global locations
Countries currently with Dairy Queen locations:
-
French GuianaFrench Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
Countries formerly with Dairy Queen locations: (Withdrew in the 2000s) (Withdrew around 2000) (Withdrew around 1999) (Withdrew in the 1990s) (Withdrew in the 1990s) (Withdrew in the 1990s)
External links