Using Creative Inquiry to Investigate Food Advertising Claims

Title:  Upside-Down Blizzard® Turnover Please!

Team Mentors:

Dr. Rose Martinez-Dawson, Senior Lecturer
Dept Applied Economics & Statistics

Dr. Paul Dawson, Professor
Dept Food Science and Human Nutrition

Student Team members: Amy Davis, Emily Pinner, Kelsey Zelinski, Lacey Adams, and Kaitlin Mauney

Abstract:  The first goal of this study was to test Dairy Queen’s claim that the Blizzard® ice cream is so thick that it can be turned upside down without the ice cream falling out.  Three types of Blizzards® were used in the study:  Oreo, Cookie Dough and plain (without mix-ins).  The latter was used as the control.  The time for the first drop to fall was recorded when the cup containing the Blizzard® ice cream was inverted.  The second goal of this study was to test if the type of mix-in affected the mean amount of time for the entire ice cream to fall from the cup when the Blizzard® ice cream was inverted.