Let’s play the word association game.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Magnum”? One of my friends said “guns”, but he’s from Texas, so that doesn’t count. Magnum P.I. would also be an acceptable answer, if you’re over the age of 30 or just have an appreciation of fine mustaches.
My first thought, because I am a perv, was, of course, “condoms for guys with giant penises”. Can you really blame me? Their whole marketing campaign is all about pleasure and indulgence. Magnum is easily the sexiest ice cream bar company around, if anyone was giving out awards for “Sexiest Ice Cream Bar”, which might be an awards show I’d actually watch.
I’m not talking about Magnums in general, though – I’m talking about Magnum Gold?!
As you’ve probably gathered by now, I didn’t just have an attack of surprise and disbelief, there – that interrobang was all Magnum’s doing. I checked their website. Time and time again, that ?! was present but unaddressed. It was like Magnum thought this was a perfectly normal punctuation to throw on a product name. Did nobody explain to Magnum what an interrobang indicates?!
Magnum describes their Gold?! Ice Cream Bar as “Silky vanilla bean ice cream swirled with sea salt caramel and covered in a golden coating made with Belgian Milk Chocolate.”
There is, of course, no actual gold in Magnum Gold?! ice cream bars. However, I was disappointed by the lack of shiny allure in the gold coating. It barely glimmered at all?! I’ve seen enough cake decorating shows to know that there’s edible gold out there that is shiny enough to attract raccoons from a half mile away. This was not that gold. This was more of a dull sheen.
The gold-covered milk chocolate shell tasted pretty high-quality – I’d put it at about Dove chocolate status. I’m glad the chocolate was so tasty, because there sure was a lot of it – too much, in fact. The shell was so thick it took a bit of effort to break through it, and the thickness seemed to cause excessive breakage. I guess I’d rather get a gold stain on my shirt than a chocolate stain?!
The vanilla ice cream was indeed smooth, and you could see the vanilla bean flecks in it. It played well with the chocolate shell, which is pretty much stating the obvious. Since when haven’t vanilla and chocolate gone well together?!
Unfortunately, the main feature of Magnum Gold?! (besides the Gold?! coating, of course), the sea salt caramel, was not strong enough to stand up to the richness of the chocolate shell. I could definitely see the caramel swirls, but I only got one or two bites where I could distinctly taste its flavor. Even then, the caramel flavor was pedestrian. There was nothing to distinguish it as sea salt caramel as opposed to just regular ol’ caramel?!
Magnum Gold?! has a little brother known as Magnum Mini Gold?! I was hoping maybe the smaller version would have a thinner shell, but Mini Gold?! shared all the characteristics, good and bad, of its bigger version. The main difference was that Mini Gold?! didn’t come in a fancy gold foil wrapper, which, by the way, is about the most annoying thing in the universe to try to photograph.
Fun fact, I got a Magnum Mini Gold?! that had the “M” on the hand-side of the stick instead of “Magnum”. I thought this was just part of being a Mini, but the rest of them had “Magnum” with the heart symbol on it showing, just like the larger version. Ice cream bar blooper reel!
I’ve tried other Magnum Ice Cream Bar flavors before, and have found them to be almost too rich and decadent. While they have their shortcomings, Magnum Gold?! Ice Cream Bars, on the other hand, have a nice balance of sweet and rich, which is funny because it’s called Gold?! Get it?!
Disclosure: The author received free Magnum Gold?! and Magnum Mini Gold?! Ice Cream Bars samples from Unilever. She also received a treasure chest with a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial Champagne.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 bar – Magnum Gold?! Ice Cream Bar – 290 calories, 20 grams of total fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 24 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein, 8% vitamin A, 10% calcium, and 4% iron. Magnum Mini Gold?! Ice Cream Bar – 170 calories, 12 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 14 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, 4% vitamin A, 6% calcium, and 2% iron.)
Other Magnum Gold?! and Magnum Mini Gold?! reviews:
On Second Scoop
Brand Eating
Item: Magnum Gold?! and Magnum Mini Gold?! Ice Cream Bars
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 3 bars (Magnum Gold?!)
Size: 6 bars (Magnum Mini Gold?!)
Purchased at: Received from Magnum
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Quality chocolate shell. Smooth vanilla bean ice cream. Being able to eat gold. Random, unexplained interrobangs. Not overwhelmingly rich like other Magnum bars. Ice cream bar blooper reels.
Cons: Chocolate shell was too thick. Caramel was too faint and not sea-salty. Random, unexplained interrobangs. Chocolate was overwhelming other flavors. I can’t stop thinking about penises when I see the word “Magnum”.
Thanks for the link! By the way, part of me thinks that the product name for the full bars should be “Magnum Major Gold?!” to keep up with the naming motif. Don’t you think so?
You are not alone: I totally thought of condoms too when I heard “magnum”. Now I’m more confused by the ?! after the word Gold. They really like strange names.
They should have put gold sprinkles on the ice cream bar
I ALWAYS think of condoms when Magnum commercials come on. So glad I’m not the only one.
I swear, we’re not being pervy, Magnum Ice Cream is totally TRYING to make us think of sex. Smart move, Magnum. Sex sells!
Yeah, they have to know. The packaging, colors, etc., are even all very similar to the packaging of Magnum condoms. Kind of.. an odd strategy.
So I guess I’m the only Zoolander fan out here. Because when I hear the word “Magnum” the first image that pops into my mind is Ben Stiller’s signature look for the runways 😛
Well ok let’s reason this out… maybe they strategized that women are the target demo for this. Women who eat their feelings. Lonely women who fill the void of their desolation and lack of regular dicking with frozen nummy nums. So I guess they were going for subliminal advertising. I can’t get over the ?! though…distracts any grammar policewoman away from the phallic insinuations.
Haha, yeah, the grammar police in me was obviously distracted by that, too. No explanation ANYWHERE. It only occurred to me today that maybe I should just email them. “WHAT IS UP WITH THE INTERROBANG?!”
I thought Magnum P.I, honestly.
The only problem with the association with the condoms is that these bars have been around in the uk before those condoms were made.
Well, I spent about two minutes looking up Magnum condom creation dates and found nothing, which is about as much time as I’m willing to give to such a subject, so I’ll have to take your word for it. In which case, I’ll make the large assumption that the condom was named after the ice cream, which is both funny and disturbing.
I remember Magnum condom jokes back in elementary school in the early 90s, so they’ve been around since at least the early 90s.
I liked the coating, but the icecream was sub-standard. It had no flavor and I never tasted the caramel. My bird liked the icecream though, so I just ate the coating and gave the inside to my bird and dog! I won’t buy them again. If I want decadence, I’ll eat hagen das bars.
it was bland, i was waiting to taste the sea salt caramel….but tasted only vanilla bean ice cream. i recommend the double caramel, that thing is decadent and caramel-y!!
$4.99 for 3? Ok…..i jumped. Couldn’t wait to try them. Don’t waste your money
I have had better “off brand” products. No flavor. Boring. Waste of calories and cash.
all of the magnum products that we have eaten in this household are totally GRAND. Have a few yet to try such as white and double chocolate. have not had the gold yet but I know those also will be great. Once a week grocery store visits alway include a box or two of these. Wonderful snacks or deserts. Glad we tried them originally. Thank you. Some of the negative reviews should give you the name of a product that they prefer – no one ever does because there isn’t one.
Dont waste your money. Too small, no flavor and soooo sweet u can’t taste anything but sugar. Gross and over rated.
They were really good, but VERY FATTY.
I really wanted to like this ice cream bar more then anything but … I ate another chocolate covered pomegranate bar (hansen’s) just yesterday and the difference between the two was night and day for me. I could taste the pomegranate in the Hansen bar but I never tasted anything but dark chocolate in the Magnum/raspberry bar. So bummed. Won’t be buying this product again.