When I was in high school in the late 1970s, our Friday nights were spent driving around with friends.  We didn’t have cell phones or social media, so our personal interactions were truly personal. 

Some of us had a citizens band (CB) radio, which allowed us to stay in touch with another carload of kids.  This didn’t apply to everyone, so we had to find a place to meet-up to plan the evening’s shenanigans.

The preferred location to meet was the local 7-Eleven convenience store.  It was not unusual to find the lot full of kids from school, driving our latest project car or one of our parents’ cars.  We didn’t stay in the parking lot very long–just long enough to make plans for our next stop.

Over time, these meet-ups stopped happening.  Either the manager of the store discouraged our loitering, or we grew tired of doing the same old thing every Friday.  Regardless of the reason, I assumed that the local 7-Eleven meet-ups were just a passing fad.

The Return of A Trend

Some time last year, I noticed a young crowd gathering at our local 7-Eleven.  I didn’t think much of it at the time, other than to wonder if a new trend was starting. 

As it turns out, a big trend was starting.  Kids are stopping in to 7-Eleven for a Slurpee and taking pictures of their cars in front of the store.  Those pictures are posting on Instagram and TikTok with the “#carsof7eleven” hashtag.

7-Eleven Gets Behind It

The marketing team at 7-Eleven corporate noticed this too, and are now sharing select car pictures on the 7-Eleven Instagram account.  During a two week period late last year, 7-Eleven saw 3,600 new user-generated posts tagged with cars in front of their stores.

Today, the #carsof7eleven tag on Instagram shows nearly 21,000 posts of cars.  When it comes to deciding which cars are featured on the 7-Eleven account, they look for vintage models, standout paint jobs and luxury vehicles positioned under the 7-eleven sign

I think it is great that 7-Eleven encourages and promotes this activity.  What a great way to help keep the car hobby alive using social media to spread the word.  I guess I can keep my CB radio in storage.

Be sure to check out the 7-Eleven Instagram account.  A sample of the pictures you’ll find are shown below.