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Can Models Turn Magnum Ice Cream Into a Haute Snack?

Kendall Jenner, Suki Waterhouse, and Hailey Baldwin have all been recruited to shill for the coffee-colored ice cream bars. Will their fans listen?


Hailey Baldwin

On Prince and West Broadway in Manhattan on Wednesday night, an army of public relations foot soldiers stood on the sidewalk with iPads and headsets, but they were not alone. There was also a film crew, one bouncer in a designer trench coat, velvet ropes, IDs being checked at the door, and hands being stamped. While this sounds like the scene outside a trendy New York nightclub, it was actually the opening of Magnum Ice Cream’s new Soho flagship store. Yes, an ice cream parlor was getting the hotspot treatment. There was even a dress code: “Dressy casual,” whatever that means. And who was the only patron? None other than Hailey Baldwin.

Believe it or not, this was a relatively “low-key” event for Magnum Ice Cream in the grand scheme of things. Lately, the ice cream maker has recruited some of the top supermodels in the business, like Kendall Jenner and Suki Waterhouse, as brand ambassadors, plus photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott to shoot their campaigns.

Jenner, for example, was recently seen at the Cannes Film Festival posing with frozen, chocolate-covered ice cream bars. It all felt a bit George Clooney for Nespresso, but no one in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to get paid to eat ice cream, right?

Jenner has since done a total of four sponsored posts about the Magnum Double bar on her Instagram using the hashtag #ReleasetheBeast. Because apparently you have to be savage to eat ice cream. If you’re a model, at least.

Baldwin arrived at the Soho Magnum flagship (the first in North America) near 8 p.m. for her “dipping moment.” Having recently broken her ankle, the stunning blonde limped in her all-black Raf Simon sneakers to the DJ-like booth to dunk her ice cream into a variety of toppings that included “gold flakes,” “culinary rose petals,” “Himalayan sea salt,” and something called “Urfa Biber chile flakes.”

Baldwin seemed slightly flustered by the wide array of options because she chose both cornflower petals and sunflower seeds. She dipped her “naked” white chocolate bar with a poker face though, holding it up to drizzle in front of the camera. She then took a suggestive bite out of it and winked like a pro.

“This is not your normal ice cream store,” said a Magnum representative in a tie. Although Baldwin doesn’t indulge in ice cream often, the question is whether the company’s sexy new “influencers” and swanky storefront can convince customers that eating ice cream is the hippest snacking to do this summer.

Despite the seemingly adverse marriage of sweets and style icons, Magnum has a rich history with fashion. Karl Lagerfeld, for example, directed a short film starring Rachel Bilson and Baptiste Giabiconi way back in 2011. And, lest we forget, Lagerfeld also ordered a life-size replica of Giabiconi lounging in his underwear to be made out of Belgian chocolate.

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