Dreyer’s Freezes Out Zsa Zsa From Its Ads

Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream gave the cold shoulder Thursday to celebrity cop slapper Zsa Zsa Gabor by tossing her ad for its low-fat ice cream into the deep freeze.

The Oakland-based company pulled the television ad for Dreyer’s Grand Light that featured Gabor after three weeks on the air because of “strong dissatisfaction” from the public. As are all who advertise Dreyer’s Grand Light, Gabor was billed as an “unbelieveable spokesperson for an unbelievable product.”

Dreyer’s received more than 300 complaints about the ad, which was created by Crawford/Wu Films in San Francisco and based on the original 1987 campaign by Dreyer’s former advertising agency, Hal Riney & Partners. That year, a Grand Light ad with convicted Watergate conspirator John D. Ehrlichman was discontinued after a public outcry.

In a news release headlined “Ta, Ta, Zsa Zsa,” Steven Schickler, Dreyer’s vice president of marketing, said the ad was intended to be humorous.

“We’ve earned a reputation for listening to consumers and responding to their requests for particular flavors and new products,” Schickler said. “We want to make sure we’re equally responsive to the way our advertising is received.”

Gabor was convicted last year of slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who had stopped her Rolls-Royce for having expired license tags. On Tuesday, Beverly Hills Municipal Judge Charles Rubin tacked another 60 hours of community service onto Gabor’s sentence of three days in jail, fines and community service.

Through her publicist, Phil Paladino, Gabor replied: “I met some wonderful people at Dreyer’s. We did a wonderful commercial. I’m sorry Dreyer’s can be so swayed, but the ultimate truth in my case will prove that I have been wronged.”

An appeal of her conviction is pending, Paladino said.

In the ad, Gabor proclaimed in her Hungarian accent: “Darlings, it’s terrible when people don’t believe what you say, but I swear to you everything I’m telling you is the truth.” Gabor goes on to discuss the virtues of the low-fat, low-cholesterol product.

(Dreyer’s Grand Light actually is ice milk, not ice cream. The Food and Drug Administration requires that ice cream contain at least 10% butterfat.)

Among Dreyer’s other spokespeople this year are Sugar Ray Leonard, who claims to have hung up his boxing gloves for good, and Melvin Belli, who professes not to use legal shenanigans.

In the Midwest and East, Dreyer’s products are known as Edy’s, to avoid confusion with a major competitor, the Breyers brand manufactured by Kraft. Dreyer’s was founded in 1928 by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy.