Before the pandemic hit, Tyra Banks was preparing for the long-awaited opening of Modelland, a fantastical theme park in Santa Monica that “combines the glamour of ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ the whimsy of Willy Wonka and the magic of Disneyland,” according to a press release.
With the opening sadly postponed, Banks refocused her attention on something a little smaller and more Covid-friendly: an ice cream business. After trademarking “Smize Cream” years ago on a whim, she has decided to make it a reality. Initially, it was going to live inside Modelland, but with that on hold, she has decided to give it a standalone moment just in time for summer.
Starting July – National Ice Cream Month – you can visit the first (of many, says Banks) Smize Cream Shop at Santa Monica Place — just steps from the future home of Modelland — or have any seven of her proprietary flavors shipped to your door (within the contiguous United States) on dry ice.
Because Banks is an expert in branding (she even teaches a class on it at Stanford) and possesses a truly wild imagination, Smize Cream is not your average ice cream company. “We have all this IP, all these characters and stories, we’re going to do books, TV and movies,” Banks explained. “Maya’s like, ‘We must own our recipes.'” But the ice cream recipe isn’t Smize Cream’s only point of differentiation. (The brand also has its own language, and it uses a lot of Z’s.)
“I teach personal branding at Stanford business school and on my first day of my lessons with my students, I say, ‘Different is better than better,’ she continued. “I can’t just say my ice cream tastes better. There’s so much ice cream. It’s an oversaturated market, so what can we do to be different?”
Well, first, you can take your inspiration from the toy “surprises” that always came in boxes of Cracker Jacks. At the bottom of every Smize Cream container — the ice cream is always prepackaged, even in-store — is a big, soft cookie dough truffle. It’s called the “Smize Surprize.”
Then, you can get jiggy with jingles. “I Want That Smize Cream,” will Smize Cream’s original theme song by (the fictional) DJ Splitz featuring Banks and the artist Stori. Naturally, it will have its own Tik Tok dance challenge that involves vogue-ing with an ice cream container on your head.
While Banks is certainly doing her part to promote the launch, the visuals are interestingly Tyra-free. Why DJ Splitz and not Tyra Banks? “I’m so tired of myself,” she said in an interview with Fashionista. “That’s why you don’t really see me here. I’ve been in this industry since I was 15 years old and I get more pleasure creating lands and creating opportunity.”
It’s also about longevity. “I want to create brands and things that live beyond me,” she continues. “I don’t care if people know it’s me, that’s why my face is not anywhere.” On a more personal level, DJ Splitz also gave Banks the opportunity to immortalize her mother. “Legacy’s important to me. My mother seeing that before she leaves this worth and knowing that she’s gonna live forever through this brand means something to me.”
Smize Cream also has a mentorship component, The Smize Goalz & Dreamz Factory. To start, the program features a partnership with the mentoring platform Eldera, where young people with specific goals will get matched with experts who are 60+ years old. “That generation has so much to give us and they can be cool and all of us are going to be old people one day, so I want to celebrate that generation,” says Banks.
As Banks herself gets older (though, you couldn’t tell by looking at her), she’s as busy as ever. She’s preparing to host “Dancing With the Stars” and film “Life-Size 3.” She says Smize Cream will be expanding quickly, even internationally, and then there’s Modelland and the related books, movies and TV shows she promised.
During her interview with Fashionista, Banks talked about how, as a result of “divorced dad guilt,” her father took her to Disneyland all the time, and she was obsessed with how immersive it was. “Anything I do that’s not on TV, I want to immerse people, and this is just the beginning of what this is in terms of the experience. There’s a whole world,” she explains. Banks’ dream of her own Disney-like universe may be a little out there as far as brand extensions go, but at least it’s not another celebrity beauty brand. And if it works, it’s a guarantee we’ll all be smizing for generations to come.
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