Who Knew? Your Favourite Ice Cream Brand Has a Chic Side

Häagen-Dazs, the renowned American ice-cream brand, is not only known for its luxurious range of ice cream flavours but for its marketing campaigns and collaborations which are continuously breaking boundaries.

Over the years, the iconic brand has toyed with themes of inclusivity, authenticity and individuality through their varied advertising approaches. In an unexpected turn, the brand has even dipped its toes into the world of fashion.

When fashion meets ice cream, what could go wrong? Feeling inspired, we took a look at a few of their biggest campaigns from the last few years:

Häagen-Dazs’ Most Fashionable Campaigns

The House of Häagen-Dazs

Häagen-Dazs made their first foray into fashion during the 2018 Berlin Fashion Week with their experiential event: "The House of Häagen-Dazs 48 Hour Collection." The campaign ran over two days and saw up-and-coming designers from fashion design school, Lette Verein Berlin, use a new packaging pattern for Peanut Butter Crunch as inspiration for a street-style collection.

The pattern, created by Dutch artist, Merijn Hos, was created as part of the brand’s 2019 packaging relaunch, which featured new patterns for the most popular flavours, designed by various artists.

The Design of Exträordinary

Häagen-Dazs returned to Berlin Fashion Week again in 2019 with yet another creative campaign for the launch of their new packaging in Germany.

The brand teamed up once again with Lette Verein Berlin, this time asking 30 students to use Germany’s top six Häagen-Dazs flavours (Cookies & Cream, Salted Caramel, Macadamia Nut Brittle, Peanut Butter Crunch, Brownie Macchiato, and Vanilla) as inspiration for a piece of clothing to be shown at a catwalk event at Mercedes Platz.

Also involved in the campaign was German fashion designer Kilian Kerner, who hosted the catwalk show, mentored the students, and promoted the event through various channels.

Don’t Hold Back

With the help of creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors, Häagen-Dazs launched its "Don’t Hold Back" campaign in June of last year. The unique brand concept aimed to highlight how Haagen Dazs “doesn’t hold back when it comes to only using the best ingredients in its products”. More than that, the campaign aimed to empower people to be themselves--unfiltered and authentic.

The vibrant campaign which embodies this concept is centred around Häagen-Dazs’ fruit range. The 30-second film has an eclectic cast including "Japanese fashion icons Aya and Ami Suzuki, Swedish-Korean actress Nim Kyoung Ran Sundström and Untimitive Dance Company as well as Lavender Hill Softball Club, both from South Africa."

Women Who Don’t Hold Back

This bold extension of the brand's original "Don’t Hold Back" campaign takes a slightly different angle, celebrating women who didn’t hold back and who have defied the odds. The campaign was launched as part of International Women’s Day and celebrated four remarkable women from the Middle East.

As part of the campaign, four iconic Häagen-Dazs flavours were renamed after the different flavours of success these women have achieved. The list of women behind each of these delicious flavour includes:

Nayla Al Khaja, the first female film Director/Producer in the United Arab Emirates; Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest and The Seven Summits; Yasmin Yousri, a 3-times cancer survivor, blogger and art director; and Maz Hakim, a TV presenter who even led a TEDx talk on refugees.

Want some inspiration for eating your ice cream? Try this strangely wonderful topping next time.