There’s a New Ghostbusters ICEE (But It’s NOT Ecto Cooler Flavored!)

Move over, Dune popcorn buckets. The good folks at ICEE have announced a new limited-time Mischievous Mini-Pufts flavor is available now to promote Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire blasting into theaters. The flavor’s name isn’t just an apparition—you will be able to order a “Marshmallow Flavored ICEE” (not to be confused with “Marshmello Flavored Coca-Cola”). The ICEE Company has also temporarily renamed three classic flavors (blue raspberry, green apple, and cherry), but in a post-ICEE-flavored cookie world, that’s not newsworthy in the slightest. Now, let’s start digging through all this gooey Stay-Puft stuff.

Wait, they chose Marshmallow? Wasn’t there a drink specifically associated with Ghostbusters?

If I’m being asked by ICEE the Polar Bear-ian to choose the form of my frozen destruction, there’s no way in hell I’m choosing the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. I’d be going toe-to-toe with the one and only Hi-C Ecto Cooler. Check out Joe’s article there for the full history, but here’s the briefest summary: Back in the ‘80s, Hi-C rebranded their already-popular Citrus Cooler drink to promote the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, permanently imprinting Ecto Cooler’s orange-tangerine flavor onto an entire generation of brains as “What Ghostbusters Tastes Like.”

Ecto Cooler was last seen on shelves in 2016 to promote the all-lady Ghostbusters movie—you remember, the one that was hated to death by the worst parts of the internet? And for some reason, this liquid nostalgia has been absent from the promotional slates of the most recently released Ghostbusters films! Considering how heavily these new Ghostbusters films have catered to those ‘80s kids, you’d think the actual catering available to order alongside them would match.

Do I need a PKE Meter to find this Marshmallow ICEE for myself?

That’s a tricky question. Since it isn’t a theater chain exclusive, it’s not guaranteed to be anywhere. Rather, any business that offers ICEEs has the option of ordering this new flavor to put in their machines. In their announcement, The ICEE Company did list a large number of places this new flavor may be located—and it’s not all theaters. They list Target, Dodge’s Southern Style, Showcase Cinemas, Santikos, Cinepolis, Jacksons Food Stores, Hy-Vee, Main Event, Krystal, Pilot and Flying J, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Vons, Checkers and Rally’s, and Albertsons. If you do find this new ICEE, please resist the urge to combine it with other flavors—don’t cross the streams.


About the Author

Griffin Parker

Griffin Parker is a writer, award-winning charity auctioneer, and "influencer in the beverage space" according to a few PR agencies. Please do not ask him about the cotton candy business he started right out of high school. When he's not contributing to Sporked or running the @SodaSeekers news pages, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix.