Mac and cheese ice cream? Kraft says demand for frozen treat overwhelmed website
A mac and cheese ice cream flavor hit the market — and it was so popular that it crashed the company’s servers.
Fans flocked online Wednesday to try to get their hands on the latest frozen treat invention — but some were out of luck.
“Looks like our ultra cool collab was too hot for our servers to handle,” Kraft Macaroni & Cheese wrote in a Twitter post. “So sit back, make a box of mac & chill. We’ll have our store back online soon.”
As of Wednesday morning, Kraft urged patience as it tried to fix the technology issue. But by the afternoon, partner Van Leeuwen Ice Cream said it sold out of the ice cream online and was close to running out at stores in California, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
“WHO WOULD’VE THOUGHT#NationalMacAndCheeseDay WOULD BREAK THE INTERNET,” the company wrote on Instagram.
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream didn’t say whether the ice cream flavor would come back. McClatchy News’ request for information wasn’t immediately returned.
Kraft said it teamed up with Van Leeuwen to launch the new product on Wednesday, just in time for National Mac and Cheese Day. Those who were craving a pint could buy one for $12 at Van Leeuwen stores or vanleeuwenicecream.com.
The company describes the orange-tinted food as a “cool, creamy scoop of ice cream that brings that comforting, nostalgic feeling from a warm bowl of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.”
“We know that there is nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than ice cream,” Emily Violett, senior associate brand manager for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, said in a news release. “That is why we wanted to combine two of the most iconic comfort foods to create an ice cream with the unforgettable flavor of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese we all grew up with.”
But servers couldn’t keep up with demand for the limited-time flavor, and several social media users said they had trouble placing orders of the ice cream. That didn’t deter some people.
“I won’t cry if I don’t get it, but I’ll keep trying,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“The website crashed as I was trying to order this... it only means one thing: the people want mac and cheese ice cream!” another person tweeted.
Even if they could order, other social media users said they planned to steer clear of the new ice cream flavor. One Facebook user thought there could be larger forces behind the crashed site.
“Maybe, just maybe, it was the universe trying to prevent this abomination,” the person posted.
It’s not the first time a Kraft product has drawn mixed reaction.
In September, the company introduced Canada to macaroni and cheese with pumpkin spice flavor packets, McClatchy News reported.
At the time, one Facebook user wrote: “literally who asked for this???”
But the pumpkin spice concoction was favorable in the eyes of at least one person who couldn’t wait to get the ice cream this time around.
“I would absolutely try this! I was a lucky recipient of your pumpkin spice mac and cheese and it was surprisingly delicious,” the Twitter user wrote.
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Mac and cheese ice cream? Kraft says demand for frozen treat overwhelmed website."
