Weinberger tirade exposes embarassing truth about beloved Vermont treat

     In a profanity-laden rant caught on record Wednesday by an undisclosed source, Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger alluded to a reality that has been threatening Vermonts 350 million dollar creemee industry for years.  In the chiding, the mayor continually poked fun at the fact that Vermonters "don't realize that creemees are the same soft serve that the rest of the country noticed was far inferior to regular ice cream after TCBY had their moment in the early 1990's".  Industry advocates have long insisted that creemees are fundamentally different than soft serve in texture, taste, and cream content, but independent efforts at verifying this claim have consistently disproved it.  Widespread fear exists that if consumers did realize that they were eating only regular soft serve and not a unique "creemee", Vermont's most lucrative novelty treat would loose appeal immediately.  In a public opinion poll conducted by St. Michael's College in 2012, 86% of consumers stated that they believed that creemees are healthier than soft serve.  47% of those polled believed that creemees may contain one or more organic ingredient, and four out of five said that creemees taste better than soft serve.  UVM sociologist Jennifer Green called the results "evidence of a classic placebo marketing scheme".  "The timing of the rise of creemees was perfect." added Green. "By the turn of the millenium most Americans had forgotten what soft-serve ice cream tasted like, and were prime targets for a familiar product with a catchy new name".  Timing may work in the favor of the creemee industry again, as this news is breaking in a season when afficianados are putting their desires to rest until next summer.  However, industry marketers will have their work cut out for them come the beginning of next season if they want to see this beloved treat survive.   

Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger, at his weekly press conferece on Tuesday, apologized vehemently for referring to Vermonters as "a bunch of cotton-headed ninnyhammers".