Klondike bar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Klondike" is a brand name for a dessert generally consisting of a vanilla ice cream square coated with a thin layer of chocolate. They are generally wrapped with a silver-colored wrapper, upon which the mascot for the brand, a polar bear, appears. In the UK, the generic name for this type of dessert is choc ice. Unlike many similar frozen treats, such as Eskimo Pies, the Klondike bar does not have a stick, a point often touted in advertising.
The Klondike bar was created by the Isaly Dairy Company of Mansfield, Ohio in the 1930s. Rights to the name were eventually sold to Good Humor-Breyers, part of Unilever. It is known for its jingle slogan "What would you do-o-o for a Klondike Bar?"
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[edit] Varieties
Several types of Klondike bar have been sold:
- Original vanilla bars (with milk chocolate coating)
- Krunch bars (with crisped rice in coating)
- Heath bars (with Heath toffee in coating)
- York peppermint patty bars (with peppermint ice cream)
- Neapolitan bars (with neapolitan ice cream)
- Planters caramel and peanut bars (with nougat-flavored ice cream)
- Triple chocolate bars (with triple chocolate ice cream)
- Caramel pretzel bars (with caramel coating)
- Cappuccino bars (with coffee-flavored ice cream)
- Chocolate bars (with chocolate ice cream)
- Hershey with almond bars (with Hershey chocolate and almonds)
- Whitehouse cherry (with cherry ice cream)
- Strawberry cheesecake bars (with swirls of strawberry syrup and pie crust)
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (with peanut butter cup pieces)
- Oreo (with "cookies and cream" ice cream) (USA only, though this same product exists in Canada, it is not under the Klondike brand)
Additionally, the following products have borne the Klondike name:
- Minis Snack Size Vanilla Ice Cream Bars
- Slim-a-Bear Premium Fudge Bar
- CarbSmart Ice Cream Bars
- CarbSmart Fudge Bars
Klondike ice cream was founded after the Eskimo Pie ice cream product. Eskimo Pie was the originator of the ice cream and chocolate bar. Eskimo Pie is currently owned by CoolBrands International, a Canadian based company.
[edit] Popular culture
The advertising campaign, with its slogan, "What would you do for a Klondike bar?" has been subject of much parody and many references in popular culture.
- In "I Never Met the Dead Man" on Family Guy, a commercial asks several questions. The announcer's last question is, "Would you...kill a man?" The man promptly shoots someone for a Klondike bar.
- Kanye West on his 2007 song "Stronger," states "they'd do anything for a Klondike, well I'd do anything for a blonde dyke."
- The expression "What Would Jesus do for a Klondike Bar?", a parody to both the motto "What would Jesus do?" and the slogan "What would you do for a Klondike bar?", has become an internet meme. Several websites sell t-shirts with this expression, including Cafepress and T-Shirt Hell. YTMND also features clips and images based on it.
- Jeff Dunham, a ventriloquist, referenced the slogan using Achmed, the dead terrorist, with Jeff saying, "You did all of this for a bunch of virgins?" and Achmed replying with, "Are you kidding me? I'd kill you for a Klondike Bar."
[edit] Copycat product and legal conflict
In the mid-1980s, Kraft produced an identical product with a very similar wrapper (using a polar bear) called "Polar B'ar", leading to a trademark infringement dispute with a company called Ambrit, Inc., which held the Klondike trademark at the time. The United States Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling prohibiting Polar B'ar from using the wrapper, and Kraft paid $8.5 million to settle the suit in February 1988. The brand had already been discontinued when bacteria was found in two ice cream factories where it was produced. An investigation started in the summer of 1986, when a 51-year-old Florida man died from meningitis after eating one of the bars.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources
- Butko, Brian. Klondikes, Chipped Ham, & Skyscraper Cones: The Story of Isaly's. Stackpole Books (July, 2001). ISBN 0-8117-2844-7
- COMPANY NEWS; Kraft Settlement By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: February 24, 1988 [1]
- AROUND THE NATION; Polar B'ar Link Sought In Death of Florida Man: AP Published: July 26, 1986 [2]
