An ice cream shop in Montclair, New Jersey, is going viral this week after locals stumbled across the shop’s mascot, which features a cow bending over and showing off her bare rear.
Dairy Air Ice Cream Co. first came under fire after Amy Tingle, a nearby business owner in the town, shared an open letter on Facebook condemning the mascot. That’s because Dairy Air features a blonde anthropomorphic cow with a beret and pigtails in a compromising position as the shop’s primary in-store logo.
“It is offensive and sickening,” Tingle said of the objectified cow, NorthJersey.com reports. “A hyper-sexualized, obviously female cow with her ass upended and poking through a circle, tail raised up, waiting for what? I’m not sure, but I do know that I am repulsed and offended.”
Tingle’s original post, which is now private, also compared the logo to President Donald Trump’s election.
“This kind of marketing scheme is the reason we currently have a sexual predator in the White House,” she argued.
The controversy didn’t stop after Tingle’s letter, either. One report from Montclair Local reveals that the store uses some pretty insensitive rear end puns for its ice cream flavors, including “Bumm Rush,” “Sweet Cheeks and Chocolate,” “Spankin’ Strawberry Moon,” “Muffin-Top Money Maker,” and perhaps most questionable of all, “Oprah’s Favorite Fanny.”
While the ice cream flavors will likely remain a rather uncomfortable family-friendly experience, it looks like the cow’s rear-exposing days will soon be over. Shortly after Dairy Air owner Anthony Tortoriello visited Tingle and her partner to defend himself, store manager Natalie DeRosa revealed the cow will lose some of her sexualization amid the backlash.
“We have heard the complaints,” she said over Facebook, according to NorthJersey.com. “We take them very seriously and we are acting to change the cow to be more fun and less sexy. Our goal was always fun and not sexy.”
That, of course, didn’t stop Dairy Air’s sexy-and-not-fun cow from going viral.
https://twitter.com/andrewkueneman/status/938624682303131650
Dairy Air Ice Cream Co is just TOO MUCH for me 😭 pic.twitter.com/9tDkwIFqav
— nikita d (@nikita_d) November 29, 2017
Still can’t get over this. Leave cows alone! –> “”We are acting to change the cow to be more fun and less sexy.” – Natalie DeRosa, manager of Dairy Air Ice Cream Co. in #Montclair #NJ. https://t.co/Skk6whww7I
— Gina Vergel (@ginavergel7) December 7, 2017
The whole situation inspired one Twitter user to contact Oprah about her name being used as a flavor.
https://twitter.com/psesqnj/status/938788400903147521
And one self-starter is even trying to make a name for himself amid all the chaos.
@DairyAirCo Are you the Dairy Air Ice Cream Company in Montclair, NJ blowing up over the controversy RE your “cheeky” logo? If so, you need an online presence ASAP to capitalize! I just wanted to tweet my support. Love the logo/campaign. Sell it to me on a shirt!
— Ian Sherman (@KawaiiPandaX) December 7, 2017
It’s unclear what will happen to the sexy cow once she’s given a rework. But it’s safe to say Dairy Air Ice Cream’s reputation will proceed itself in Montclair, even after the shop’s rear-exposing mascot gets a butt reduction.
Update 11:23am CT, Dec. 14: After ongoing controversy both locally and nationally, the Dairy Air Ice Cream Co. has agreed to modify its mascot. In a press release from Thursday, franchise co-owner Anthony Tortoriello explained that he and his business partner Jeff O’Neill have spoken with others and understand why the logo needs to change.
“Dairy Air was created with one goal in mind—to make delicious dairy desserts for our customers,” he said, according to a press release. “To us, it’s all about the ice cream and serving it in a super unique, family-friendly store, with awesome customer service. We simply created a fun illustration to complement our fun name. In ‘hindsight,’ however, we realize that the illustration may have been offensive to some. In light of that, we are working now to tweak it.”
The store’s owners went on to explain that Dairy Air’s ice cream, not its sexy cow, is meant to be the store’s true appeal.
“As for our product, we think that utterly speaks for itself,” O’Neill said.