Younger U.S. Workers Say Free Ice Cream Secret To Office Happiness

The secret to happiness at work: Could it be free ice cream?

Despite the stereotype of U.S. workers as hurried multitaskers in grey cubicles who are repeatedly jolted by cell phone vibrators, most workers enjoy their job, get along with their co-workers and feel pretty good about their work environment.

This is a good thing, because Americans spend half their life at work, according to a survey of over 1,500 full-time and part-time U.S. workers. Fully 64% of respondents enjoy their work a great deal, and 29% enjoy it somewhat, while those who don't care for work at all numbered just 5%.

When it comes to the all-important work-life balance, only about half of respondents feel they've got things down, although that figure goes up with the age of the respondent: 58% of older workers said they've got the work-life thing in check compared to 42% of 18- to-34-year-olds.

One thing worth noting: Americans work hard, but they may be leaving their desks a little crummy. Every month, workers bring lunch to work 8 days; eat while working 7.5 days, and buy lunch at or near work 5.9 days. They skip lunch entirely 3.5 days a month. A full 60% of workers work non-stop throughout their shift without taking any breaks. About one in four women (28%) said a snack break would help them be more productive at work, with a third (30%) of younger workers (18-34) claiming that free ice cream would boost morale.

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And this is, of course, the reason for the survey. It was conducted by Dreyer's* Grand Ice Cream Inc. as one component in its nationwide effort to promote Dibs bite-size ice cream. Last week, the brand launched a nationwide TV campaign via JWT, Chicago, with two 30-second and one 15-second TV spots on prime time cable and all day parts. The campaign also includes cinema advertising as well (Dibs is sold in theaters.)

"The creative calls on people to find uses for other snacks, because once they try Dibs, they won't want to snack on anything else," says Kerry Hopkins, associate brand manager at for Dreyer's and Edy's ice cream.

The marketing effort also zeroes in on workers, because people spend so much time at their jobs. To promote the highly portable (but meltable) Dibs as a viable option for work-place munching, Ms. Hopkins and her team created a "Dibs Quest for a Cooler Workplace" contest, which asks workers to share their ideas about how to make the work environments cooler. And they're not talking air conditioning.

Winners--there will be 350 of them--will receive free fully stocked freezers of Dibs for a month. And if the freezer empties out in just a couple days? Dreyer's* will keep it stocked for the entire month.

* Editor's note: The article was amended to correction an error.

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