Look, there’s nothing inherently wrong with KIND bars. They’re nestled in countless knapsacks for a quick boost of energy, pedestaled across thousands of pantries as a supreme health food. Yet when my dad handed me a frozen version of the snack, my first instinct was to fling it against the wall. 

The idea of a limp KIND bar that had been shoved in the freezer sounded far from appetizing. It certainly didn’t help that the packaging looked identical to the original bars, furthering the frigid illusion. 

However, when I hesitantly nibbled my first bite, smooth caramel and silky vanilla ice cream flooded my senses. The vanilla slowly softened on top of a rich chocolate base, melting the chocolate into sauce as I chewed. Woven carefully through it all was the velvet-smooth taste of peanut butter.  

I was stunned — this was somehow a healthy ice cream bar, not an icy clump of granola! Yet aside from actually eating it, I would have had no way of knowing otherwise. By marketing this new product the exact same way as their other items, KIND or its distributors missed out big on consumers who would have loved this treat. Take me for example — my freezer is now filled with this amazing product, but only because I actively decided to ignore my initial disgust. KIND hit gold on this ice cream, yet I doubt the public will realize this without a severe shift in marketing. 

Look, I get their reasoning: the original KIND bars have always been popular among health gurus, so why not use the same nutrition-based marketing in the frozen aisle? Yet the problem is that this name recognition only works when people actually understand what the product is. 

Twix understands this idea perfectly — on their frozen packaging, bold white letters highlighted in red proclaim “ICE CREAM BARS.” They depict the gooey caramel and ice cream interior front and center, instead of hiding it behind the logo like KIND did. Snickers takes the same tried-and-true approach even further by adding an explosion of ice behind the photo of their chocolate ice cream bar. I know that KIND doesn’t want to associate with candy companies — but would it really hurt to add some snowflakes or show the interior of their product?

For all my ranting, I truly believe these KIND ice cream bars are fantastic. They’re light and delectable treats, a sweet companion to our classic California heat. Frankly, it really is one of a kind. It’s just too bad that the marketing team doesn’t see it that way.