alt text

I scream, you scream, we all scream at ice cream that doesn’t melt

A viral video shows Walmart sandwhiches intact after an hour in the sun but does the "ewww!" factor fit in the debate over healthy foods?

Rick Polito, Editor-in-chief, Nutrition Business Journal

August 11, 2014

1 Min Read
I scream, you scream, we all scream at ice cream that doesn’t melt

You might think a video of a Walmart ice cream sandwich baking in the sun on a summer Iowa afternoon and not melting! would provide the kind of viral horror show that gets people to think about what they are eating.

You’d probably be wrong.

Sure, the video is scary enough in a sort of mad food scientist way. More than 5 million YouTube viewers have watched Sioux Falls country radio jock Dan Collins patiently waiting an hour and 15 minutes for the ice cream sandwich to melt before giving up. Consumer Reports put Walmart’s ice cream slab up against four other brands in their video (Nestle melted fastest!) with the Walmart product still intact after an hour on the patio at 100 degrees.

The videos, and the idea of kids eating heat-resistant ice cream, might make us cringe but that doesn’t make it a wake-up call.

And wake-up calls often go to voice mail anyway.

Photos of a 2-year-old McDonald’s Happy Meal looking about as good as it does right out of the bag didn’t slow down the drive-through lane at the ultimate fast-food chain. Stock prices went up after the photos went viral in February. Activists trying to get people to listen to warnings about pesticide residue in conventionally grown produce, chemical ingredients in processed foods and the environmental and health issues of GMOs, might want to think about that Happy Meal, and that ice cream sandwich.

We’re doubting ice cream sandwich sales dropped significantly.

It's summer. Go outside. You can probably hear an ice cream truck down the street. 

About the Author

Rick Polito

Editor-in-chief, Nutrition Business Journal

As Nutrition Business Journal's editor-in-chief, Rick Polito writes about the trends, deals and developments in the natural nutrition industry, looking for the little companies coming up and the big money coming in. An award-winning journalist, Polito knows that facts and figures never give the complete context and that the story of this industry has always been about people.

Subscribe and receive the latest updates on trends, data, events and more.
Join 57,000+ members of the natural products community.

You May Also Like