Snapple 20-Ton Ice Pop Melts in NYC; $126 Million Deal Upheld

Snapple’s idea to create a 20-ton ice pop and display it in New York City withered Tuesday as temperatures in the Big Apple climbed and the pop began to melt.

The promotion was an attempt at a new Guinness world record to create a two-and-a-half-story tall ice pop referred to as an “ice scraper” and to debut the brand’s new Snapple on Ice pops. But as the kiwi-strawberry flavored edible pop was being prepared for installation in Union Square, the melt down was well underway.

The gooey mess ran into city streets and the fire department was called in to hose down the streets for fear cars and pedestrians would slip. In keeping with its popular “real facts” trivia promotion, the giant pop had a “real fact” printed on its stick: An 11-year-old boy created the first ice pop in 1905. The promotion was done in conjunction with CoolBrands International.

In making the announcement about the promotion, Holly Mensch, VP, Snapple said, “Snapple thinks big-that’s why…we launched the ‘Snapple Ice Age’ with an attempt to break the world record for the largest ice pop.”

The pop was made up of more than 302,000 regular-size servings of Snapple on Ice— to serve every person in Buffalo, NY, Snapple said. Snapple had hired ice expert Max Bolkman Zuleta to build the ice pop to try and beat the world record currently held by Jan Van Den Berg of the Netherlands who crafted a 21-foot long, 7-foot five-inches wide and three-feet seven-inch thick pop in 1997.

All was not lost though, kids watching the fiasco were given free ice pops from Snapple.

In a separate development, a New York City appellate court Tuesday upheld the city’s $126 million deal with Snapple for the beverage maker to be the exclusive supplier of iced teas and waters in city schools, buildings and other city-owned facilities. The deal had been challenged by the city comptroller’s office, which said the agreement was flawed.

As part of the decision, future contracts for the use of the city’s intellectual property must be approved by the city’s franchise and concession review committee.

“Today’s ruling, going forward, will put an end to back door deals like Snapple,” City Comptroller William Thompson said in a statement. “From the start, my goal has been to ensure that a deal as flawed as this one would not be repeated without an open, transparent, public review and vote.”