Over the past week, Indonesian millennials have been referencing some of their favorite things from the ‘90s and noughties on social media, partly for nostalgia and partly to confuse the younger generation via the trending “let’s confuse kids nowadays” meme.
But what started as a meme has developed into an attempt to bring back a beloved ice cream treat from the past.
That treat would be Viennetta, a premium ice cream product made by Wall’s (or Good Humor in some countries), is a bar of soft ice cream layered with chocolate. It was initially launched as a Christmas specialty in 1982 in the UK. The ice cream brand was popular in Indonesia from the ‘90s to early 2000s, when most millennials who are in their 20s or early 30s today were still in kindergarten or primary school. While it has been discontinued since around the early noughties in Indonesia, Viennetta is still sold in some European countries.
Recently, a tweet asking Wall’s Indonesia to produce Viennetta again triggered an immense reaction among Indonesian netizens, garnering more than 29,000 retweets as of the time of writing.
Hallo @wallsidn , saya merindukan ice cream ini.. saat saya kecil saya tidak mampu membelinya karna harganya tergolong mahal untuk bocah sd, namun skrng saya sudah dewasa dan saya mencari ice cream ini sudah tidak ada lg 🙁 bsakah kau menghujutkan mimpi sya untuk mencoba nya? pic.twitter.com/WTl6HaM09Y
— bagas arkan (paperfive) (@bagassaadillah) March 18, 2019
“Hallo @wallsidn, I really miss this ice cream… When I was a child I couldn’t afford it because it was too expensive for primary school students, but now that I’m an adult I’ve been looking for this ice cream but it’s no longer available. Could you help realize my dream to try it?”
Other tweets followed in a similar vein.
dear eskrim walls. Dulu saya belum sempat menyoba Viennetta karna keterbatasan ekonomi keluarga. Dulu saya selalu merengek ke ortu setiap iklannya muncul di tipi. Alhamdulillah sekarang saya sudah berkecukupan, saya ingin memberikan surprise Viennetta buat ortu saat lebaran nanti
— remukan gorengan (@NizarArdaxxx) March 19, 2019
“Dear Wall’s ice cream. Back then I wasn’t able to try Viennetta due to my family’s economic limitations. I used to beg to my parents whenever the commercial [for Viennetta] was shown on television. Thank God I earn enough now, I’d like to surprise my parents with Viennetta on this upcoming lebaran (Eid).”
Aku juga berjanji jika diproduksi lagi, aku mau membeli ini untuk orang tua dan ponakanku sebagai rasa syukurku atas hidupku di masa kini yang lebih baik :"")
— Nugi ! (@ngglry) March 20, 2019
“I’ve made a promise to myself that, if [Viennetta] is produced again, I’ll buy it for my parents and nephews/nieces as a token of my gratitude for a better life today.”
A Change.org petition to bring back Viennetta was actually created around six months ago and so far has received more than 15,000 signatures out of the targeted 25,000. But now, with a renewed call to bring the ice cream back, Wall’s Indonesia may just make Indonesian millennials’ wish a reality.
Hi @b0mbaygoreng, terima kasih sekali ya untuk saran Kamu. Saran Kamu akan kami tampung dan disampaikan ke pihak terkait. Semoga Viennetta bisa hadir kembali 🙂
— Wall's Indonesia (@wallsidn) March 19, 2019
“Thank you for your input. We will accommodate your suggestion and submit it to the relevant parties. Hopefully Viennetta will return,” Wall’s Indonesia wrote in a reply to a tweet.
Will we see Viennetta back in Indonesian supermarket freezers soon? Only time (and possibly even more persistent millennials) will tell, but in the meantime, you could try this recipe to fill the Viennetta-shaped hole in your life:
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