Ice Cream Company to Donate 1% of Sales To Fixing Roads, But There’s Something You Should Know…

by Sarah Miller

Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream of Shelby Township in Michigan has created a new flavor of ice cream. It’s a thick, black-tar fudge in chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate charity. The new ice cream’s name is Michigan Pot Hole and 1% of the products sales will be donated. Donated to what? Donated to fixing the roads.

Now I know what you’re thinking, don’t all ice cream sales already go towards fixing the roads? Well, yes they do. When you order an ice cream at an ice cream store in Michigan you’re subject to a 6% sales tax! So, Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream is voluntarily raising their own taxes!

As an economics major who identifies as a capitalist, I initially found this altruistic gesture of kindness moronic, but then I thought a little harder about the situation. If Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream charges $5 per ice cream, and the new flavor totals $5,000 in sales, that will be $50 going towards the roads ( $350 if you count the 6% sales tax already in place).

So, for an additional $50 Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream has reached 1,000 of people who otherwise may have NEVER heard about them. There have been newspaper articles, internet stories and Facebook posts all about this new exciting pothole-themed flavor.

$50 for all that “free” press and advertising? Not a bad deal.