"Eat the Rich" ice cream truck sells $10 popsicles shaped like Bezos, Musk, others
An artists' collective in Brooklyn is selling popsicles shaped like billionaires including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with the tagline "Eat the Rich." But the $10 price tag on the frozen treats has some people pointing out the irony of criticizing the world's wealthiest while engaging in "peak capitalism."
The ice cream pops are offered by the artist collective MSCHF and sold via food trucks in New York City and Santa Monica, California. The popsicles are proving popular: they sold out Tuesday in New York, Bloomberg reported.
The treats were designed to start a conversation, MSCHF's chief revenue officer Daniel Greenberg told CBS MoneyWatch via email. Even though the items are selling well, MSCHF will stop its project Wednesday and "there are no plans to expand this," he said.
Billionaire wealth soared during the pandemic, boosting the fortunes of Musk, Bezos and others — and sparking calls from some lawmakers for a "wealth tax" amid widening inequalities. While the popsicles are poking fun at the world's richest, some individuals on social media say the jokes on those paying $10 a pop.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say selling overpriced popsicles to end capitalism is peak champagne socialism larp," noted one Twitter user, referring to live-action role playing.
eat the rich popsicles for $10 pic.twitter.com/QSBwmmF8kl
— chloë🧃🐛 (@chloeevansj) July 12, 2022
Another pointed out, "A ice cream truck selling 'eat the rich' popsicles for $10 to influencers to post on Instagram so they can sell ads is ironically peak capitalism."
Aside from Musk and Bezos, customers can purchase frozen treats shaped like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma. The snacks have tongue-in-cheek names like Snack on Jack, Bite Bezos, Gobble Gates, Suck Zuck and Munch Musk. Advertising depicts headshots of the well-known billionaires alongside their icy likenesses.
The popsicles are the latest in a series of art projects from MSCHF designed to spark public interest, Greenberg said. MSCHF — a vowel-less abbreviation of the word mischief — is the same collective that created musician Lil Nas X's Satan Nike shoes. Canadian musician Grimes carried a sword created by MSCHF to the Met Gala last year.
The Satan shoes from MSCHF drew immediate controversy because the design contained human blood. The shoes eventually generated a lawsuit from Nike because they allegedly copied from the brand's Swoosh logo.
Grimes' sword was created with metal from AR-15 rifles under the collective's "Guns2Swords" art project. It was the subject of conversation during the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual fundraiser.
"I think we always expected this as this is the norm for MSCHF," Greenberg said about the popsicles.
For its final day, MSCHF will open its ice cream truck in New York City from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Washington Square Park and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.