Save for the most dedicated among us, ice cream is hot weather grub. Now that we’re back to sweating in bed at 12am – no, not in that way – lathering up with sun screen and wondering how we ever did without the constant sunshine, ice cream is firmly back on the menu.
A great place to pick some up is Baskin-Robbins, an American ice cream chain that boasts over 100 stores around the UK.
First opened in California in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, the ice cream chain has stood the test of time and racked up 31 delicious flavours and shares a Massachussetts HQ with sister company Dunkin’ Donuts.
Its 31 flavours setup is predicated on the idea that customers could indulge in a different flavour over every day in a month. Of course, you’d have ice cream change to spare in February, April, June, September, and November, but you’d rather have too many ice cream options than too few.
Back in 2022, Baskin-Robbins updated its logo to reflect its 31 flavours, stylising the B and R to show a 31 between them. Its previous logo had a similar blend of B, R and 31, but it led to some confusion among fans who thought it could be read as 1312.
When those numbers are replaced with letters from the alphabet whose positions correspond to them, you get ‘ACAB’. This debunked urban legend was seen as a reference to the ‘All Cops Are B**tards’ slang term, although whether that played a part in the new logo’s creation is purely the stuff of conjecture.
The new logo seems to have made the ‘31’ more obvious, too, which is an essential part of Baskin-Robbins’ branding. Proof of such is rife on social media.
One X user said: “I was today years old when I realized that the baskin robbins logo had the number 31 highlighted in between the letters omggggg. I’m so dumbbbb.”
“I'ma let you finish, but the ‘31’ hidden in Baskin-Robbins is the cleverest logo of all time #31Flavors,” opined another. Perhaps, but have you ever noticed the Tour de France logo has a bike hidden in it? That seems much cleverer to me.
Another among the newly-enlightened asked: “Guys, did you know the 31 logo has a Baskin-Robbins hidden in it?”
Some say the best place to hide is in plain sight.
Featured Image Credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Rachael Davis