Clinking For Attention: Icebow Promotes Your Brand On Ice Cubes

By Shoshanna Solomon, The Times of Israel July 03, 2017 2 minutes

icebow - branded ice cubes with logo, courtesy

This article was first published by The Times of Israel and was re-posted with permission

An Israeli startup is looking to make ice cubes cool again — not by changing their temperature, but by allowing them to be branded.

As Icebow founder Elad Mor was sipping a ice cube-filled soft drink, the idea was born. If the company succeeds, the ice that clinks in our sodas could be decorated with logos or ads, or a wedding couple could have their smiling faces engraved on the ice in the whiskeys they serve.

Jerusalem-based Icebow has created a technology that allows branding the ice cubes using commercial ice machines. Logos, ads, images or other designs can be embossed at the center of the ice cubes, using only water and without any food additives.

“This is a cool, new way for brands to engage with customers, offering new levels of intimacy and brand affinity,” said Sagi Katz, head of business development at the firm. “Once integrated with our two core technologies, ice machines will be able to produce premium ice cubes with logos, images and other designs” imprinted in them.

The ice could show off a company’s brands, offer special promotions or personalize events like weddings or bar mitzvas, he said.

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Ice production in commercial ice machines freezes water in molds and then uses heat to release the cubes in a process known as wet harvesting.

“This process of switching from freezing to heating uses a huge amount of energy and time,” said Elad Mor, the founder of the firm, in a phone interview. His technology uses air instead of heat to detach the ice from the molds, increasing the energy efficiency of the process by 25-30 percent, he said.