September 28th, 2011
08:30 PM ET

Ice cream cone or Ku Klux Klan member?

A Florida shop had to scrap its ice cream cone mascot because passers-by thought it looked like a man dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

"We were just trying to get people to come in," store employee Jasmine Gonzalez told CNN affiliate WTSP. "We thought it was something fun for people, but eventually people took it the wrong way."

The Ice Cream Family Corner and Sandwiches shop opened a few months ago in Ocala. The owners hired a man to stand outside the shop dressed in a vanilla  ice cream cone costume to attract business.

At first store owners told WTSP they had no idea the outfit was upsetting passers-by,  but then they noticed a drop in business, and began to wonder what was impacting their sales.

Eventually, Gonzalez said they were tipped off that people were avoiding the shop, because they thought the peaked cap was not an ice cream cone costume, but a KKK robe. The mascot was immediately pulled off the street.

Some customers told WTSP they could understand the confusion, while others laughed at the ordeal.

"They (KKK members) don't color themselves (with sprinkles) like that," Wayne Austin chuckled to WTSP as he looked at the costume.

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Filed under: Florida • U.S.
soundoff (222 Responses)
  1. Dannon

    I think the sprinkles and big a$$ cone gave it away that it wasn't a Klan member.... wow...

    September 29, 2011 at 4:17 am | Report abuse |
  2. Micah Moore

    Hahahahahahahahahah!!! ...Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

    September 29, 2011 at 4:34 am | Report abuse |
    • hilo, HI

      hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.......................hahahahahahahahahaha

      September 29, 2011 at 5:22 am | Report abuse |
    • hilo, HI

      I SCREAM! YOU SCREAM! WE ALL SCREAM BECAUSE THERE'S A CROSS BURNING ON MY NEIGHBOR'S FRONT LAWN!!!!

      September 29, 2011 at 5:28 am | Report abuse |
  3. pressa

    ridiculous.

    September 29, 2011 at 4:35 am | Report abuse |
  4. Stillworking

    I love it. I think that if the Klan would add sprinkles to their outfits, the world just might be a happier place.

    September 29, 2011 at 4:42 am | Report abuse |
  5. Alex

    this is ridiculous. "hey, kkk member, beat his a$$!" It is god damn ice cream cone.

    September 29, 2011 at 4:55 am | Report abuse |
  6. Andreas Moser

    I thought the KKK was history, until I received a comment from them on my blog: http://andreasmoser.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/london-riots-august-2011/

    September 29, 2011 at 5:02 am | Report abuse |
    • Fish-ing for responses

      white supremacist groups are very real, especially in the US, UK, and Germany, with the latter two having legal political parties revolving around white supremacy.

      September 29, 2011 at 6:57 am | Report abuse |
  7. eville_11

    there must be a town of blind people somewhere... aha! Found it.

    September 29, 2011 at 5:13 am | Report abuse |
  8. Karloff

    Do the brainiacs who mistook this person for a KKK member also get mistaken themselves for KKK members because of their pointed heads?

    September 29, 2011 at 5:13 am | Report abuse |
  9. cucunest

    the owner is kinda dumb or never learns history!!!!

    September 29, 2011 at 6:11 am | Report abuse |
  10. whight_knight

    Never thought I would see the day some idiots would think a damn guy dressed in a cone with sprinkles on top would be mistaken for a Klansman this really shows what foolish and sad individuals are walking the streets...I wonder if a Klansman were to stand in the same spot if he would be mistaken for an ice cream cone??? rofl

    September 29, 2011 at 6:13 am | Report abuse |
  11. KHunt

    Village Idiot doesn't apply here... Idiot village? Yeah, that works.

    September 29, 2011 at 6:16 am | Report abuse |
  12. Jazzzzzzzz

    Dumbest people on the face of the earth
    Just like Hitler

    September 29, 2011 at 6:33 am | Report abuse |
  13. Jimbo

    I think they should have gone with a strawberry cone... Or maybe chocolate 😛

    September 29, 2011 at 6:44 am | Report abuse |
  14. banasy©

    The man was standing in front of an ice cream shop, for heaven's sake!
    People didn't get the correlation?

    September 29, 2011 at 6:45 am | Report abuse |
  15. Troy Wagner

    I don't think anyone would try to sugar coat racism like that.

    September 29, 2011 at 6:52 am | Report abuse |
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