Tyra Banks shares a first taste of her hot ice cream at Artechouse NYC on December 10, 2025 in New York City.
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Tyra Banks’ dream is for Harvard Business School to study her. Or, more specifically, her new viral creation: Hot ice cream.
“I’m a small business owner, launching a product,” the multi-hyphenate supermodel mogul entrepreneur told Forbes. “Yes I have a megaphone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to convert. I have to ask myself, how am I going to use that platform? I’m not going to be the manicurist with screwed up nails.”
In her new role as the founder of international pop-up ice cream shop Smize and Dream, Banks follows the advice she shared with her students while guest lecturing at Stanford Business School in 2024: “Different is better than better.”
Named for her signature America’s Next Top Model advice to “smile with your eyes” (smizing), Smize and Dream hosted ice cream pop-ups in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and most recently Sydney, Australia, where Banks promoted her newest product, hot ice cream, a baffling concoction that left the Internet simultaneously intrigued and confused.
“It boggled people at first,” Banks said of the viral videos debuting her newest product in October 2025. “Knowing I’m taking a hit for my business, for people to think that I’ve lost my mind, that’s part of it. I’m not crazy”
Tyra Banks attends Tyra Banks tops a sample of hot ice cream with chocolate whipped cream
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All the way down to her new campy character, Santa Smize, and the adjacent music video, “Santa SMiZE, Santa SMiZE.” Banks wants future entrepreneurs to study who she identified a problem – small ice cream businesses closing in the colder seasons – and fixed it with her hot dairy dessert, a sippable hybrid of decadent hot cocoa and ice cream, topped with whipped cream and cookie crumbles in its latest Santa-inspired iteration. It’s not scooped, but served out of a pot with a ladle, like ice cream soup.
“I launched a new product that’s weird and confusing, but super tasty with a wild campaign. This is a success story, in terms of taste and attention, and we’re in the midst of seeing if the product will catch on at other businesses.”
Tyra Banks attends Tyra Banks Hosts “SMiZE & DREAM” Hot Ice Cream First Taste at Artechouse NYC on December 10, 2025 in New York City. (
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Banks isn’t interested in trademarking hot ice cream (smize is trademarked by her holding company, Ty Loke LLC). Instead, she wants the widely recognized menu item to help small businesses stay open. And when mom and pop ice cream shops start thriving year round with steamy mint chip or warm butter pecan served with a stirrer, you’ll have Banks to thank. And study.
“The minute you start copying your competitors, you’re just a dupe, and it’s just not going to work,” Banks says.”Study businesses that have nothing to do with your category, and see how you can use those principals for your business.”
How to Taste Smize & Dream Hot Ice Cream
Smize & Dream is making its New York City debut at the immersive art gallery, ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea Market, this Monday, December 15 through Sunday, December 21.
The Santa SMiZE Cookies Hot Ice Cream flavor will be available for purchase inside a multi-sensory holiday exhibition, complete with XR animation created by ARTECHOUSE, and a photo booth to smize in. Timed entry tickets start at $25 for adults, and sessions are 60 minutes. Group discounts are available. The bilevel space is fully ADA accessible.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissakravitz/2025/12/11/tyra-banks-viral-smize–dream-hot-ice-cream-pops-up-in-new-york-city/
