Photo by Elizabeth Izzo
A sign at a Stewart’s Shop in Plattsburgh advertises the company’s new Civility ice cream.
PLATTSBURGH | Stewart’s Shops is fighting fire with ice — ice cream, that is.
In an effort to promote civility “in a world full of turmoil and chaos,” convenience store chain Stewart’s Shops has kicked off a new campaign with an accompanying ice cream flavor.
“People are in such a rush in today’s world they don’t think to let others into traffic, hold the door for others and show civility in general,” said Erica Komoroske, a spokesman for Stewart’s. “We wanted to launch a campaign to make people nicer.”
Ice cream, she said, “naturally creates a fun experience and we are using this as an opportunity to encourage civility/politeness/courtesy by all and create a positive atmosphere in our shops.”
The campaign allows customers to get half-off the price of an ice cream cone when they order the new “Civility” flavor of ice cream:
Vanilla with a salty caramel swirl.
No nuts.
“Vanilla is one of our most popular flavors and we enhanced the flavor with salty caramel swirls,” said Komoroske when asked if there was any significance behind the flavor choice. “Civility Ice Cream is sweet, salty and smooth with no nuts. It is already a fan favorite!”
The campaign is running now through Aug. 26. Anyone who orders the ice cream before then will also receive a sticker with one of two slogans: “Nice People Make People Nicer,” or “Let’s Lick This Problem!”
The “Civility” ice cream flavor will be available into the fall at the cone counter at Stewart’s Shops around the region.
CUSTOMERS REACT
Overall, the customer response to the campaign has been “really positive,” Komoroske said.
“Of course some people think this campaign has a political motivation, but that’s not the case at all.”
In a tweet, Stewart’s Shops President Gary Dake said that the ice cream flavor isn’t about politics:
“Civility ice cream is not about politics or politicians- that’s too big a lift. Let’s start small and see if we can change people on the street who we see every day. #civilityweek.”
Vice President of Communications at Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce Richard Synder posted about his support for the new campaign on Twitter.
“We need more #civility. Awesome campaign @StewartsShops! Go try their new flavor and be kind to each other!”
“I think in general their ice cream is amazing,” said Shane Canning, a New York City resident with a home in Wadhams.
Canning held a two-scoop cone with ice cream rapidly melting down his fingers in the parking lot at the Elizabethtown Stewart’s.
He said he liked the idea behind the campaign and praised the company for encouraging kindness.
“Ditto,” Laura Canning chimed in.
“I’m nice to people all of the time,” Essex resident Kevin Cooper joked while in line at the Elizabethtown scoop counter, before saying that yes, he does support the idea behind the campaign. “People being civil to one another is a good thing.”
Elizabethtown’s Sarah Rivers, also in line for ice cream, agreed.
“It’s karma. You’re good to others, and they’re nice to you in return,” she said. “Yes, I support this campaign.”
“I think it’s great,” said Michael David Sullivan, a Lake Placid resident who described himself as a “Stewart’s Connoisseur.”
Sullivan sat at a table outside the Elizabethtown Stewart’s. He said that employees at the store are generally very friendly, and the campaign reminded him of “midwestern hospitality.”
“It’s about time it came back,” he said.
CEO ACTIVISM
Stewart’s campaign joins a growing trend of what Fast Company called “CEO activism” in an in-depth story on Starbucks’ infamous “Race Together” campaign, which details how leaders of large companies are increasingly getting involved in public awareness campaigns.
Starbucks’ “Race Together” campaign in 2015 was a notable example, designed to start a nationwide conversation about race by baristas writing “#RaceTogether” on customer’s cups.
The public blowback was immediate. The company’s senior vice president for global communications, Corey duBrowa, temporarily deleted his Twitter account after what he described as “a cascade of negativity,” in a post on Medium.
“Honest to God, if you start to engage me in a race conversation before I’ve had my morning coffee, it will not end well,” PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill famously tweeted just after the campaign’s launch.
A more successful iteration followed just one week afterward, Fast Company reported, when Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Apple CEO Tim Cook and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin protested legislation in Indiana and Arkansas that some feared would discriminate against the gay community. The CEOs of Marriott, Walmart and Gap also spoke out.
“In leveraging their economic influence, these executives had an unbeatable argument: this legislation is not only morally wrong, it’s bad for business,” Fast Company’s Austin Carr wrote. “The effort served as a loud juxtaposition to Starbucks’s campaign.”
