White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is in the news for his war against anyone reporting that Donald Trump’s inauguration attendance was smaller than for past ceremonies, but for the last several years, Spicer has been waging a different war—against “Ice Cream of the Future,” Dippin’ Dots.
The treat, made by flash freezing ice cream into tiny balls and served with a wooden spoon, has apparently tortured Spicer routinely since 2010 and, in return, the former RNC director has cataloged the company’s slow descent into bankruptcy.
The feud began, suddenly and without explanation, in 2010.
And raged until at least 2015, when Spicer was apparently unable to get vanilla-flavored Dippin’ Dots at a Washington Nationals baseball game.
A representative for the ballpark, contacted by Heat Street, was unable to comment on Spicer’s specific complaints.
Spicer did achieve a temporary victory in 2011, when Dippin’ Dots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and asked a court to give it time to restructure its business model before the company failed entirely. Spicer was noticeably happy about the event.
Ultimately, however, Dippin’ Dots found a buyer and has now expanded into a line of healthier, yogurt-based Dippin’ Dots, and a co-branding partnership with a popcorn company.
In fairness to Spicer, Dippin’ Dots may not, technically, be the “ice cream of the future,” considering that the company was founded in 1988, and filed a patent on its ice cream freezing process in 1992—and were still selling essentially the same product for nearly twenty years before the Press Secretary came along to complain.
And, frankly, if Heat Street staff ever achieve significant notoriety, a number of us, including your humble reporter, will have to own up to a contentious history with a national chain. For instance, it makes no sense why Chipotle has to charge for guacamole when competing chains, like Qdoba, give it (and nacho cheese) away for free.
Of course, whether Dippin’ Dots continues to be a force in the marketplace is among Spicer’s lesser problems. After his now-infamous press conference on Trump’s inauguration numbers, word has it in DC that he may not be long for the top office.
