Museum of Ice Cream and their dastardly sprinkles extend SF run (update)

Update: A spokesperson with the Museum of Ice Cream replied with the following statement regarding the slippery sprinkle situation:

“At Museum of Ice Cream, we take our role very seriously as a public-facing entity and aim to inspire and position ourselves as a brand who greatly understands our social responsibility and cultural presence. We appreciate the feedback we have received from visitors and the local San Francisco community and can assure our audience that we don’t take their suggestions lightly. As a result, we have taken immense precautions to ensure we are environmentally conscious and implementing sustainable efforts. At all of our MOIC locations, we have hired multiple cleaners that are constantly sweeping around the building as well as paying extra attention to the waterway entrance. Additionally, we have already begun the process of creating a biodegradable sprinkle for our Sprinkle Pool, that will be implemented in the near future. It is important to note that we have been consulting with top environmental specialists to learn more about how we can greater impact SF’s sustainable efforts. Museum of Ice Cream is greatly invested in putting our best foot forward will continue to remind every guest to do a double shake upon leaving to ensure everyone has shaken off any sprinkles INSIDE of our walls. Our goal is to continue our sustainable efforts and amplify them to be even more efficient.”

Neither a museum nor an epistemological look at frozen dairy treats, the Museum of Ice Cream proved a triple scoop-sized success in 2017. So much so that they’re extending their run.

Today the Instagram-ready playground announced they will have more tickets, which will go on sale Tuesday, January 9 beginning at 11 a.m., as well as an extended stay in San Francisco through February 26.

The Museum of Ice Cream follows on the heels of The Color Factory, an equally vivid color pop-up experience seen all over social media last year.

While the playground’s stay at the historic One Grant Avenue building has been popular—lines snake outside the Union Square building on weekends—controversy has orbited the pastel-hued merriment.

“Tiny pieces of plastic from the Museum of Ice Cream’s sprinkle pool litter sidewalks blocks away from its location,” reports as SFGate “The museum was also under fire for reportedly asking local creameries to donate ice cream for free, despite high ticket prices.”

Most recently, the city of Miami slapped the museum (there are outposts in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco) with a $1,000 for egregious sprinkle littering.

“It all started when a local environmentalist pulled out a phone...and filmed a street full of sprinkles that apparently fell off museumgoers’ clothing,” notes Curbed Miami.

The city went so far as to decry said sprinkles as “an environmental hazard.”

Also, the museum reportedly asked local ice cream purveyors to give them free ice cream in exchange for—shudder—valuable brand exposure.

• Museum of Ice Cream announces extension, more tickets [SFGate]
• The Museum of Ice Cream Gets Its Ice Cream for Free [Eater SF]
• Museum of Ice Cream hit with a $1,000 fine over those Instagrammable sprinkles [Curbed Miami]
• Are we having fun yet? [Curbed]