(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We just said goodbye to high calories, thanks to the great taste of TCBY frozen yogurt.
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
If you’re a child of the 80s, you might remember ads like this one from TCBY.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) All the pleasure, but none of the guilt.
RASCOE: And now Froyo is back. In New York City, people are waiting an hour or more for artisanal soft serve. In Chicago, a Greek Froyo storefront had to pause operations because of overwhelming demand. Journalist Rachel Kurzius recently wrote about what she calls a third-wave Froyo renaissance. She joins us now here in studio. Thanks for being with us.
RACHEL KURZIUS: Delighted to be here.
RASCOE: In your piece in Vox, you write, you know, every time that frozen yogurt has a moment, becomes trendy again, it says something about the diet culture of the moment. What do you mean by that?
KURZIUS: The thing about frozen yogurt is that it’s seen as a, quote, “permissible indulgence.” If normally dessert is the kind of thing that you feel a little bad about after, frozen yogurt is intended as the exception to this. And because it’s kind of coded as the better choice, the healthier choice, something that you can enjoy in the moment and then not feel bad about afterwards, it can tell us a lot about what it means to be healthy or feel good or bad about your wellness choices in that moment in time.
RASCOE: You call this a third wave of Froyo’s popularity. So it first made its mark in the 80s, and then it reemerged in the 2000. So what’s the through line between these moments? And then what is different this time around?
KURZIUS: In previous iterations, it was all about what Froyo didn’t have. For example, Froyo was low fat or fat-free. Froyo was low calorie. Whereas this time around, the emphasis is all on what Froyo does have, right? So Froyo has a lot of protein. Froyo has probiotics and even prebiotics and all kinds of live cultures.
And to me, when I look at that, what I see is this changing way that we are talking about what is permissible for our bodies. It’s not just about what we’re depriving our bodies of. It’s about what we’re trying to add to our bodies to create this kind of more balanced self. What I would argue is that kind of the underlying motivation remains the same, even if we’re talking about it differently. Now it’s a little almost gauche often to bring up the idea of depriving yourself.
RASCOE: Yes. Yeah.
KURZIUS: Yet this underlying motivation remains thinness. You’re thin, and also you look healthy. You look like you go to the gym, and also you’re wearing expensive workout gear, and your hair looks amazing. So it’s not just about a body type, right? It’s about status and class, as well. And we’re seeing that in this iteration of Froyo.
RASCOE: OK. Well, now for the most important part of this whole thing. At least while Froyo is still in fashion, we have some samples. So we got Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt.
KURZIUS: Very protein rich.
RASCOE: Yes. And this is fudge brownie. OK.
KURZIUS: Wow.
RASCOE: So this is for real, for real.
KURZIUS: Yeah. I mean, this looks straight up like chocolate ice cream…
RASCOE: Yes.
KURZIUS: …To the eye.
RASCOE: Definitely. To the eye, it looks like chocolate ice cream. Let’s see.
KURZIUS: And it tastes like chocolate ice cream.
RASCOE: It’s very chocolatey. It’s very chocolatey.
KURZIUS: It is. This isn’t giving me yogurt.
RASCOE: No, this isn’t giving yogurt. It’s giving chocolate.
KURZIUS: Yeah.
RASCOE: Then we got – is this Van Leeuwen tart.
(Laughter).
KURZIUS: It’s quite tart.
RASCOE: It’s tart but not bad. It’s an interesting flavor.
KURZIUS: And it’s really creamy. Like, one thing that I’ll say…
RASCOE: It’s very creamy. I do like that.
KURZIUS: …Is the original wave of Froyo tasted like it was healthy.
RASCOE: Yes. Yeah.
KURZIUS: And they’ve gotten a lot creamier over time.
RASCOE: That’s journalist Rachel Kurzius. Thank you for stopping by and giving us the lowdown on Froyo.
KURZIUS: Thank you for having me and providing all of this Froyo.
RASCOE: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
