Foodies are reeling after discovering the true meaning behind the name of luxury ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs.
Many assumed the treat was named after its founders, while others believed it was a Swedish, German or Danish phrase.
However, it turns out the Scandinavian-inspired name was completely made up by its American founders.
Häagen-Dazs was launched in the US by its founders, husband-and-wife duo Reuben and Rose Mattus in the 1960s.
Reuben concocted the unusual-sounding brand name to sound European and fabricated a meaning for it.
He claimed it stands for ‘the best’ – but there’s a more sentimental meaning behind the invented phrase.
Reuben and Rose are both Jewish-Polish immigrants and came up with the Danish-inspired name to honour Denmark’s protection of its Jewish population during the Second World War.
‘The only country which saved the Jews during World War II was Denmark, so I put together a totally fictitious Danish name and had it registered,’ Reuben said, according to Tablet Magazine.
Fans of luxury ice-cream brand Häagen-Dazs have been left shocked after finding out its American founder made up the company name to make it sound Danish
‘Häagen-Dazs doesn’t mean anything. [But] it would attract attention, especially with the umlaut.’
The homage was further represented by the outline of a map on Denmark included on Häagen-Dazs’s early labels.
After he perfected the ice cream formula, the businessman – who died in 1994 – said he wanted a name to make it stand out to an American market.
‘If you’re the same like everybody else, you’re lost. The number one thing was to get a foreign-sounding name,’ he said.
In an interview with People Magazine in 1981, Reuben further explained he wanted Americans to ‘take a second look’ at the label and wonder if it was imported.
In 1996 on a PBS documentary An Ice Cream Show, Reuben’s daughter Doris Hurley recalled her father sitting at the kitchen table coming up with a list of jibberish names for his brand until he settled on Häagen-Dazs because it sounded ‘unique’ and ‘original’.
Häagen-Dazs fans were shocked by the explanation, with many admitting they thought the name was German or the last name of its founders.
‘I always assumed it was German because of the umlaut,’ one person confessed on Reddit.
Häagen-Dazs fans were shocked by the explanation with many admitting they thought the name was German or the last name of its founders
‘So it’s basically the Mötley Crüe of ice cream,’ another joked.
‘I always assumed it was a combination of two German last names. Weird,’ a third said.
However, the name has caused confusion among Swedish and Danish speakers who claim the phrase does not make grammatical sense.
‘As a Swedish person the name has always bothered me because it doesn’t make sense verbally (or grammatically) to put an A after an Ä like that,’ one user pointed out.
‘I’m Danish, and I can’t think of any product in this country with a more alien-looking name than Häagen-Dazs,’ a second agreed.
‘I speak Danish and Häagen-Dazs makes no sense at all. They didn’t even try,’ a third agreed.
