Ice Cream Chain Accused Of Racism Apologizes For Blackface Joke

These days, you can't go a day without hearing about some trendy ice cream shop doling out scoops of goth ice cream blackened by activated charcoal. But while anti-unicorn ice cream may be trending, casual jokes about blackface never are.

N2 Extreme Gelato — a small ice cream chain based in Australia — got in trouble this week for publishing a social media post featuring a photo of someone's arm covered in charcoal dust with the caption: "Is it still considered blackface if it's just on your hand? Anyway it's just spilt carbon so calm yo t— with our HONEY CHARCOAL VANILLA gelato!"

The crude joke immediately caused backlash on Instagram and Twitter, with users calling out the racist undertones of the caption, describing it as "gross" and "heinous" and threatening to boycott.

The ice cream chain has since apologized for the controversial Instagram post in a public apology on Facebook.

"We deeply apologize for the careless and insensitive caption that was posted before this," the N2 Extreme Gelato post reads. "We have taken disciplinary action against the staff in question and the staff has been suspended as well as will no longer be any social media communications role. Deepest apologies that this was posted so thoughtlessly. We will ensure tight social media scrutiny controls are put in place."