Looking for Dolly Parton's Ice Cream? That'll Be $1K

After website snafu, that's how much is being asked for a pint on eBay
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2021 3:00 AM CDT
Looking for Dolly Parton's Ice Cream? That'll Be $1K
Country music legend Dolly Parton, left, stands with her uncle Bill Owens during a sneak peek preview at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on March 22, 2013.   (Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press via AP, File)

Dolly Parton's fans are not messing around: They sent 50 times the normal traffic to the website for Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams when Parton's limited edition flavor launched Thursday, leading to a supply-and-demand problem. Which would explain why there's a pint of the Strawberry Pretzel Pie ice cream being offered for $1,000 (plus $35 shipping) on eBay. However, while Fox News reports that Jeni's sold out of the ice cream online (CMT News reports some physical stores sold out, too), Jeni's says on the product page that it is not sold out; rather, there's been a delay due to technical difficulties.

Shortly after the launch, Jeni's tweeted, "Did y'all just break our website?" In a later thread, it explained that while it had planned and tested for the amount of traffic it eventually got, the site crashed anyway, and was down longer than expected. The following day, the company said it is still working to ensure it can "confidently drop the flavor" and promised to give 48 hours notice before it tries again. The collaboration will benefit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a nonprofit that provides children from birth to age five with free books. (More Dolly Parton stories.)

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