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Popular ice cream parlor Gelato Messina has been forced to apologize after being accused of “mocking” Christians with the name of one of its specials over the Easter weekend.
Messina sparked controversy after introducing its latest flavor, which was initially called ‘Cheesus the secondcoming.’
Those who identify as Christian condemned the ice cream brand, filling its social media pages with negative comments and even forcing reviews of its store in Marrickville, in inner Sydney, to be lowered from four stars to just two.
The brand changed the name of the special to Choccy Cheesecake on Tuesday and apologized to customers who were offended.
Messina apologized after he sparked controversy when he introduced his latest flavour, which was initially called ‘Cheesus the secondcoming’.
‘My sincere apologies to anyone we may have offended with the old name, we didn’t mean to!’ the brand wrote in an Instagram post.
“The vitriol and hatred has been quite surprising, but by the way, we will be more conscious of what we post in the future.”
In a post from April last year, the same flavor was advertised with the original title ‘Cheesus the secondcoming’.
Since then, the brand’s Instagram has been flooded with negative comments from people within the Christian faith.
‘What did you think was going to happen? “You just lost a lot of customers,” one wrote.
“Please, your ‘vitriol and hatred’ towards Christianity on the most important day in the Christian calendar is what prompted Christians to give you negative reviews and take our money elsewhere,” said another.
Christian Lives founder Charlie Bakhos condemned the title of the ice cream brand’s latest special announced during Easter
In a post from April last year, the same flavor was advertised with the original title Cheesus the second comes.
‘How was it not your intention to offend and mock all Christians???’ a comment read.
‘Poor excuse for an apology. Always Jesus or Mary who are made fun of! You would never make fun of the Prophet Muhammad or the Islamic faith, would you?
“Insensitive, I will never buy from you again, I’m sorry,” said one man.
Meanwhile, others said it was “ridiculous” that so many people cared about one flavor of ice cream.
“It’s literally freezing people need to get over it please,” said another.
“I miss the old days when no one was offended by ice cream and puns,” said one.
‘Tell me how many followers you lost and I’ll buy enough ice cream to make up for it. I thought it was a great name!’ wrote one customer.
Many customers said the reaction was “ridiculous” and that people needed to move on.
In a follow-up comment, Messina said: ‘Criticism and comments are fine, they will all be deleted anyway. “People threatening to physically harm our staff is not okay.”
The ice cream’s name even caught the attention of controversial Christian Lives founder Charlie Bakhos, who accused the shop’s post of “mocking Jesus.”
He said his Google reviews for his Marrickville branch had gone from 4.5 stars to 2.6 in less than an hour.
“Making fun of Jesus is not acceptable, not on our watch,” he said in a TikTok shared Monday night.
“God bless all those who rose, keep up the good work.”
Gelato Messina has been contacted for comment.