We prefer not to associate ice cream with the devil. Ice cream makes us very happy. The devil makes us very unhappy. Seeing the two things in the same space is not ideal, but that’s exactly what’s happening at Sweet Jesus Ice Cream, a Canadian ice cream company that’s moving into the United States. In case it wasn’t obvious, people are upset.
Sweet Jesus treats its name ironically by combining the branding with images of death metal. Its graphics use fascist-style “s” symbols in place of letters, and some of their advertising shows little girls with vampiric teeth with blood smeared on their chins (you might say its strawberry sauce, but come on).
Sweet Jesus also uses an upside-down cross in its marketing, which many Christians have found to be, uh, problematic. There’s a petition at Change.org with nearly 1,200 signatures asking for the company to change their name.
The petition says, “We, as Christians, are deeply offended by the name Sweet Jesus. This is a mockery of taking the Lord’s name in vain and highly offensive to Christians.” (h/t USA Today)
The petition also calls for a boycott against the chain. Yeesh, tough to boycott ice cream, but if this means more business for our local mom-and-pop or Cold Stone, so be it.
