26 June 2001
Its hot in London at the moment, has been for a while now and we haven't peaked yet. People are being assaulted in the streets for their cold drinks, getting yourself an ice lolly will have your friends ostracising you, and I suspect that the large double-doored american fridge is having affairs with most of the rest of the office, I caught one girl trying to climb inside it yesterday.
Between the nearest tube station and where I live there are six convenience stores. Six. Less than a three minute walk takes me past them all, so last night I figured at least one of them would satisfy a craving.
If you've seen the commercial for "Solero Shots", where the guy is wandering through a party, arrives at a fridge, opens it and this girl in a transparent luminous green two-piece comes out and disolves into these little green balls of Solero ice cream instantly revitalizing him, you'd be forgiven for originally thinking it was for frozen peas in a can. Which is pretty much what I expected when I finally, in the last shop I tried, found a packet.
It was their last one. This small squat green proto-dalek-embryo. Perfectly preserved in a freezer cabinet, beside Walt Disney's head. I reached in and grabbed it quickly, the palm of my hand sticking to it. I had to pay with my left hand.
This, I had convinced myself, was going to be a brand new experience. Unlike any dessert sensation I had ever tasted before. Better than Tiramisu in Tuscany. Fruitier than Key Lime pie in Key West. Sweeter than Profiteroles in Paris... if I could just... get the top... open...
I couldn't understand it. I did Industrial Design for five years in secondary school, this couldn't possibly be more complicated than the cross sections, tolerances and pressure calculations I could do in my sleep. And yet...
Pausing for a moment it occured to me that I was thinking about it too much. I pulled hard on the only tab there was and the plastic top half of the packet came off. Oops. Then the instructions became visible, my hand having previously been stuck over them. Push first to break seal, then pull back. Gotcha.
Tipping my head back akin to the man in the commercial I expected a torrent of new flavours and chilled sensations to flow through me. I was also secretly hoping the girl in the glow in the dark bikini would make an appearance. Nada.
Still with the packet angled down, ready to pour I peered inside, all the little bits were frozen together inside the pack. It had puzzled me how they could ensure that the contents would pour instead of solidify together and here was my answer. In defiance, a lone green pellet rolled out and stuck to my eye.
I spent the rest of the walk home trying to defrost the contents with one hand and rubbing my burning eye with the other. Eventually I gave up and waited for it to turn into cold lime juice in a packet. Marketing strategy, ten out of ten. Product, nil points.
wow...we just got the solero shots brief for a promotional campaign.
i myself had a similar experience (less dramatic)- opening the pack, solid chunk of ice.
this article was enlightening.
just a suggestion...we added vodka into the pack and slushed it around a bit...great drink...and all the littel pellets come out separately...the first base for a vodka drink in which the ice is already inside.
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