If you grew up loving Icee, you already know that the drink holds an iconic presence in many a childhood memory of hot summers.
The red and blue striped cup with the bright red straw meant a burst of cool, sweet relief was coming your way, whether your flavor of choice was cherry, blue raspberry or Coca-Cola.
Invented in 1958 by accident when a Dairy Queen owner in Coffeyville, Kansas, stuck his sodas in a freezer when the soda machine went on the fritz, the frozen drinks are mostly known as "slushies" or "slurpees" depending on where you live.
They're a lot easier to find these days then they were back then, too.
Owned by J&J Snack Foods (JJSF), Icee went on to grow into a full-blown brand, adding dozens of new flavors and seeking new ways to innovate on its product.
For example, right now the Icee website features 42 flavors including Sugar Plum, Blood Orange and Watermelon Lemonade.
While no one could say that the newest offering is a mundane one, whether or not it's something longtime Icee fans will actually want to try is another story entirely.
Wait...An Icee sandwich, You Say?
The Icee Company's latest venture is kind of like if you took an Oreo and filled it with a classic Icee flavor.
There's no chocolate cookie variety, though. Instead, the cookies are two butter-flavored vanilla wafers, and the icing between comes in Blue Raspberry and Cherry varieties. They will be sold exclusively at Kroger (KR) stores and retail for $3.29 a pack.
"We are continually innovating at ICEE and are beyond excited to bring fans their beloved frozen beverage flavors in a new, fun cookie format," said Natalie Peterson, vice president of marketing for The ICEE Company.
"We have no doubt that these new crème filled cookies will be a hit among fans. It's a completely different experience — perfect for snacking on the go — with our beloved cherry and blue raspberry flavors that evoke nostalgia and make you feel like a kid again!"
While it's admirable that The Icee Company is trying to innovate with this product, there's something about it that feels not quite right to this longtime fan.
Maybe it's that part of the joy of an Icee is the intensely cold temperature and the potential risk of brain freeze. Cookies just aren't known to provide those kinds of sensations (maybe if you put them in the freezer, though).
But making new products is about taking chances. For all we know, these cookies might scratch a fruit flavored itch we didn't know we had.
The bigger picture is that J&J can afford to take adventurous chances right now.
It's recovered nicely since its pandemic dip, and while it still hasn't hit the highs it did in 2019, its continued to report solid gains since.
Also, since it has several other major snack brands in its pocket, such as Slush Puppie, Sour Patch Kids Ice Pops and Coca-Cola's (COKE) Minute Maid Frozen Ices, it's no big deal if Icee cookies don't hit it big.
