Cornetto (), meaning "little horn" in Italian, is an Italian brand of frozen dessert in the

ice cream cone An ice cream cone, poke (Ireland/Scotland) or cornet (England) is a brittle, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, made so ice cream can be carried and eaten without a bowl or spoon, for example, the Hong Kon ...

, which is manufactured and owned by parent company

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

. Cornetto are sold as part of the

Heartbrand This is a list of brands owned by the British multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Unilever's billion euro brands These brands have annual sales of one billion euros or more: * Axe/Lynx *Dove *Omo/Persil * Heartbrand (Wall's) ice ...

product line, known internationally by different names, including Algida in Italy, Wall's (ice cream), Wall's in the UK, HB Ice Cream, HB in the Republic of Ireland, Frigo in Spain, and Kwality Wall's in India. Several variations of the product exist, ranging from milk-based ice cream to vegetable fat-based dessert.

Manufacturing

For a long time, the idea of selling frozen ice-cream cones had been impractical, as the ice cream would soak into the moist cone during the manufacturing process and make it soggy and unpalatable when served. In 1959, Spica, an Italian ice-cream manufacturer based in Naples, overcame this problem by insulating the inside of the waffle cone from the ice cream with a coating of oil, sugar, and chocolate. In 1976 the patent was acquired by

, which began marketing the product in Italy through the Algida brand and abroad through other subsidiaries, including Wall's (ice cream), Wall's in the UK, HB Ice Cream, HB in Ireland, Frigo in Spain and Kwality Wall's in India. They are sold in many different sizes throughout Europe in sizes ranging from 28-ml Miniatures to 260-ml King Cones, though the 90-ml and 125-ml sizes tend to be the most popular.

Varieties

The product is available in a variety of flavours, including Strawberry, Mint Chocolate, Nut, Lemon, Whippy (yogurt flavour with a chewy chocolate), Valentine's Day flavours, and Cornetto Soft (soft ice cream that comes in chocolate chip, cookie dough, vanilla, chocolate, and double chocolate). Cornetto Soft is sold on the street by vendors and is made on the spot with an ice cream dispenser, but the other flavours are premade and factory packaged. Also, Cornetto Enigma is made, which consists of cookies and cream, raspberry and double chocolate flavours. Unilever introduced a Cornetto chocolate confectionery into the UK market in 2013, following a licensing deal with Kinnerton Confectionery.

Advertising campaigns

'O sole mio campaign

The brand was marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Brazil by successful advertising campaigns which placed the Neapolitan song "'O sole mio" into a variety of stereotypical Italian locations and situations, with its lyrics changed to: :Just one Cornetto, :give it to me, :delicious ice-cream, of Italy, :creamy vanilla and choco dream, :Give me Cornetto, :from Wall's ice cream. (in the UK) :give it to me, :a big ol' nut and chocolate dream, :HB Cornetto :spells the best ice cream. (in Ireland) :''Dame un Cornetto'' :''Molto crocante'' :''E più cremoso'' :''É da Gelato.'' :''Cornetto é da própria Itália.'' :''Ti voglio tanto,'' :''Corneeeeetto mio!'' (in Brazil) In Britain and Ireland, the advertisements ran for 10 years during the 1980s and 1990s, with the song supposedly sung by former Italian waiter Renato Pagliari of one-hit wonders Renée and Renato. (However, this is claimed not to be the case by Pagliari's son, Remo.) In 2000, the commercial was ranked 23rd in Channel 4's UK poll of the "100 Greatest (TV series), 100 Greatest Adverts". The theme resurfaced in 2006, this time sung by pedestrians, drivers, office workers, and marathon runners in Central London.

Other campaigns

In the Philippines, the "" () campaign was launched in 2008, relying on humour and focused on the product's affordability, with skits that centre on things one cannot afford with 20 Philippine peso, pesos and suggesting that the audience should buy a Cornetto instead. "" () and "" () were used as slogans for the campaign. By May 2011, 30 story-lines had been produced. In 2019, the price of Cornetto was 25 pesos (this was not always the case). But in 2020, it became Philippine twenty-peso note#Pre-independence, 20 pesos again. The television advertisement entitled "Tugs", which is part of the campaign, was selected as the Adobo Ad of the Year for 2010 through online voting at the ad agency band night "Lakihan Mo Logo 14".

References