--- title: Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Won't Change Name After Controversy description: The ice cream brand Sweet Jesus refuses to change its name even though Christians are calling it blasphemous. canonical: https://time.com/5216808/sweet-jesus-ice-cream-sparks-controversy/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-27T14:32:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:39.419Z og:title: 'Sweet Jesus' Ice Cream Won't Change Its Name Even Though People Are Furious og:description: They say the ice cream company's name is blasphemous og:url: https://time.com/5216808/sweet-jesus-ice-cream-sparks-controversy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e03dda72381ecc/6988d5dffb4eac5f60892ed9/ice-cream-popular-flavors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Ice cream cones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Sweet Jesus' Ice Cream Won't Change Its Name Even Though People Are Furious twitter:description: They say the ice cream company's name is blasphemous twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74e03dda72381ecc/6988d5dffb4eac5f60892ed9/ice-cream-popular-flavors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Sweet Jesus' Ice Cream Won't Change Its Name Even Though People Are Mad About It > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cd219e1c-23a1-4179-b5ea-b6c377d459fa&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 27, 2018 2:32 PM UTC  Girl holding three ice cream cones with chocolate and strawberry creams. Girl holding three ice cream cones with chocolate and strawberry creams. Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 27, 2018 2:32 PM UTC There are few ways to please everyone quite like [ice cream](http://time.com/4678031/interview-cookie-do-line/) does, but the ice cream chain Sweet Jesus has really upset a bunch of people. The Canadian ice cream company, which is expanding into the U.S., has sparked controversy among thousands of [Christianity believers](http://time.com/5163376/christians-gun-control/) who think Christ is one sweet treat that just doesn’t belong on a cone. Sweet Jesus makes gigantic, brightly-colored swirl cones with plenty of mix-ins. Counted among the menu are soft serve flavors like “Hella Nutella,” which gets topped with the hazelnut spread, corn flakes and crumbled wafer cookies, and “Red Rapture,” which comes coated in red velvet cake, raspberry sauce and meringue crumble. But the picturesque appeal is lost on the store’s critics who take issue with not only the name but the packaging. The upside-down cross on the company’s cups has raised more than a little hell. More than 1,100 people [signed a petition](https://www.change.org/p/change-org-change-the-name-of-sweet-jesus-ice-cream-remove-offensive-antichrist-imagery-immediately) started by Ian O’Sullivan demanding that Sweet Jesus change its name “immediately” and remove the “[antichrist imagery](http://time.com/2842044/gay-christians/)” from the cups as of Tuesday morning. “If this Ice Cream chain is permitted to keep the mocking and blasphemous name of Sweet Jesus, what is next?” the petition states. Nearly 10,000 signed a similar [petition on CitizenGo](http://citizengo.org/en-ca/sc/158645-toronto-based-ice-cream-parlours-serve-blasphemy?tc=tw&tcid=46340144). None of this has been enough to thaw Sweet Jesus’s resolve. The company made it clear the name’s not going anywhere and “was created from the popular phrase that people use as an expression of enjoyment, surprise or disbelief. Our aim is not to offer commentary on anyone’s religion or belief systems. 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