A NEW chocolate-flavoured ice cream created by a Russian company has faced criticism after from American commentators over its controversial name.
The ‘Obamka’ ice cream bar hit shelves in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny in late April, according to the Moscow Times.
The -ka suffix in Russian is used to designate something as small, so the name translates to 'Little Obama', Reuters reports.
The sweet treat, produced by Slavista, is a vanilla ice cream bar coated in chocolate and comes in a wrapper that "features an image of a smiling young African boy, wearing an ear ring and holding an ice cream".
Rasil Mustafin, deputy development director at the Slavista ice cream factory, claims the name of the product isn’t political at all, but was chosen due to the ice cream's chocolate flavour.
“There’s no political underpinning," Mustafin said. “We have no intention to offend anyone. Someone at the factory came up with the idea.”
According to the Moscow Times, the ice cream’s packaging was inspired by a Soviet-era cartoon in which little African children inhabited the fictional island of “Chunga-Changa.”
“We just like the name,” said Anatoli Ragimkhanov, financial director of the factory. “It’s so amusing.”
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http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/russian-company-reject-critics-little-obama-ice-cream
