Old Candy Critic Articles - Creativity in a Box

I've decided to take down several old articles from the candycritic.org and re-post them here on the Candy Critic blog.  This week is an article is all about a great experience I had, in my first ice cream of the summer.

Spring is coming, and whenever I get even the slightest sense that warm weather is on the way, I want ice cream. Normally I treat myself to a cone at an ice cream shop, and I crown that moment “the first ice cream of the year”. It’s ceremonial, more than based in any kind of reality, because I’ve likely had several ice cream treats in the winter. But this is just me, telling the world, that my ice cream intake is about to go up.

This year, I decided that I’m going to play this ceremony out a little differently. This year, my “first ice cream of the year” is going to be from a box instead of an ice cream parlor or truck. Why do you ask? Well, aren’t we the question machine, I say. Then I say  “I’ve found the coolest (oh man, puns already) ice cream gimmick in history”.

Sure, I’ve eaten some crazy flavours in my life. Anything from the many flavours of Ben and Jerry’s to red bean ice creams from Japan. This gimmick goes beyond the realm of strange flavours; this gimmick is about the look more than the flavour. Chapman’s Chocolate Vanilla Ice Cream is checker-filled. Oh yes, I said checkers. This can only be fun.

I’ll be honest. When I first opened the box I was a little freaked out; it appeared that it was only stripped. Now don’t go thinking I’m an idiot - I checked all the sides and they were all striped too, in the same direction. I can’t really explain that any better but trust me, I did the math. Then I read a label on the side. It said, “Slice don’t scoop to reveal the checkers.” All I can say is that hope was restored.

Brilliant, I say! This was great. Sure, the ice cream was really basic and full of air, but I had checkers. That, and it encouraged me to eat ice cream by the slice rather than the scoop. I like it when a gimmick changes the way I think about something I know very well.

This was truly a great first ice cream treat of the year. It made me think about how much fun I’m going to have the rest of the summer; made me remember playing baseball in the park; made me… well ... want another slice.

Well, I'd better go now. My second slice is melting, and although I love all you guys, I’m pretty sure the checkers won’t work in ice cream soup.

CC