Ever looked at your bottle of SPF 50 and thought, hmm, dessert? Probably not. But Carnival Cruise Line and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream clearly did—and now the world has sunscreen-flavored ice cream.
Yes, the oddball flavor mashup was announced by Carnival, declaring it a protest against the end of summer. There you have it: this summer’s strangest collab is very real, and it’s already blowing up on Instagram.
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So what exactly is sunscreen ice cream? Carnival and Van Leeuwen are keeping details tight, but the frozen treat does feature ingredients including coconut cream, cocoa butter, vanilla extract and sea salt. (And, graciously, not the chemical tang of Coppertone.)
While we are warily intrigued, for now, it won’t hit grocery store freezers—instead you’ll have to settle for living vicariously through social media reactions. But, according to brand reps, "if the buzz is big enough, a limited-time run of the flavor could be on the horizon," opening up opportunities for the public to dig their spoon in.
And people already are reacting. Fans on Carnival’s Instagram are clamoring for a scoop: “Oooo I need immediately,” one wrote. Another begged: “Spectacular, give me 14 of them right now.” Clearly, curiosity is winning out over common sense.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the sunscreen-meets-food crossover has actually been a thing. Back in 2016, KFC gave away bottles of fried-chicken-scented sunscreen (not edible). In 2022, MoonPie launched Sun Bad Sunscreen, which smelled like marshmallows. And Van Leeuwen itself is no stranger to weird mashups: They’ve churned out mac-and-cheese and ranch-dressing flavors before. Questionable? Absolutely. Viral? Every time.
And if history tells us anything, sunscreen ice cream won’t stay niche for long. After all, in a world where pickle-flavored seltzer and mustard-flavored donuts exist, is SPF really that shocking?
Summer may be winding down, but Carnival and Van Leeuwen just found a way to keep it lingering in your freezer—whether you like it or not.