Some stores are 'protecting' their ice cream from the ridiculous threat of lickers

It brings me absolutely no pleasure to report that ice cream is getting the Tide Pod treatment.

Remember last year when the Tide Pod challenge went viral? So many people ate or pretended to eat the poisonous pods of laundry detergent that eventually stores had to lock the pods up to ensure they were being purchased responsibly.

Welp, after footage of a young woman opening a tub of Blue Bell ice cream in a Texas food store, licking said ice cream, and returning the tub to the freezer recently made the rounds on social media, the frozen treat appears to be meeting the same sad fate, at least in a few stores.

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In an attempt to protect ice cream from being tampered with, several stores are now taking extra security measures, such as displaying warning signs and locking the freezer doors. Some stores went so far as to assign security guards to their freezer departments.

Two Keller Public Safety officers in Texas jokingly stood guard in their local ice cream aisle during Fourth of July weekend. And a Texas Walmart employee was also photographed guarding the Blue Bell freezer with a toy gun, which does NOT seem like a great idea.

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Though some security precautions are clearly jokes, other stores seem to be taking genuine measures to keep people from accessing the ice cream without supervision. A photo tweeted by @AliYsw shows a locked freezer and a sign that reads, "Please see employee for help," and one shared by @s0ntra shows an added button to call an employee to the freezer section.

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Since the original ice cream licking video gained traction, several copycats have attempted the stunt in freezer sections across America.

A Louisiana man named Lenise Martin III was recently recorded licking and poking at an open carton of Blue Bell ice cream before returning it to the store's freezer. He was arrested, and though it was later proven that he had purchased the ice cream carton he tampered with, police are still urging store-goers not to mimic the prank.

Larz, an influencer who may or may not be associated with YouTuber Jake Paul, also shared a video of himself eating ice cream out of the carton with his hands and returning it to the freezer. He doesn't seem to face serious consequences at the time, but at this point, the ice cream licking is no longer a laughing matter.

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Aside from raising awareness about possible legal ramifications of licking ice cream in stores, people have also called attention to the fact that the prank has led retailers and authorities to monitor ice cream purchases more closely than firearm purchases. That is deeply sad.

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Let's all try to resist the urge to take part in every single viral trend — especially those that could potentially put other people's safety at risk and lead to criminal charges. Shall we?