American ice cream brand created by Reuben Mattus in 1961 — notably using a made-up Scandinavian-sounding name (despite being created in the Bronx) to signal premium quality — a classic Rory Sutherland behavioral economics case study in how meaning trumps literal information.
Functions in behavioral economics as the canonical example of psychological signaling outperforming rational information — the fake Scandinavian name and the presence of an umlaut in an American-made product raises perceived quality and willingness to pay.
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