#trending: Theft or life hack? Singapore vlogger faces backlash over video on how to get extra Ikea ice cream

SINGAPORE —  A Singapore vlogger received flak online for demonstrating a hack to get extra ice cream from Ikea ice cream machines.

Vlogger Jason Soo posted a “Ikea hack” Instagram video last Wednesday (May 17), showing followers how to “double” the amount of ice cream dispensed by the ice cream machines in Ikea.

In the video, Mr Soo’s daughter demonstrates the hack by holding up the ice cream cone while the machine dispenses the ice cream. Normally, the ice cream cone is placed in the machine's cone holder.

As the machine apparently gauges the amount of ice cream to dispense by the weight of the cone, it would thus be unable to “detect the weight”, allowing customers to “get more ice cream for the same price”, Mr Soo said.

The hack seemed to have worked, as Mr Soo’s wife Ripple Sim gleefully showed off a thick dollop of ice cream on the ice cream cone in the video.

Online users, however, had a less gleeful response to the video.

Criticisms flooded in the comments section of the video, with many calling Mr Soo out for being “cheapskate” and even accusing him of stealing. 

One said: “So cheapskate 😢 S$0.50 cents also want to take advantage.” 

The Ikea soft serve soya ice cream sells economically at S$0.50 for each cone. 

Another commented: “This is not a hack, it’s plain stealing,”

Trying the “hack” is illegal and will cause the machine to beep in Indonesia, one online user said.

“I’m sorry but this is illegal in Ikea Indonesia, you will be caught and put in the office… and the machine will keep beeping.”

Several people also agreed that the act was unscrupulous: “This is quite unethical. I hope he removes this post. Influencing the wrong moral values.”

Some also said that the hack was imparting the wrong values to Mr Soo’s daughter: “Shame on you both for displaying your ignorance in front of your daughter. Please do better, this kind of behaviour is very disrespectful, distasteful and disgusting.”

Others pointed out that the hack also causes the ice cream to overflow to the machine cone holder, thereby dirtying it. They said that residual ice cream left on the machine could be unhygienic. 

One asked: “Did you clean up after the mess you created?” 

After the backlash, Mr Soo told TODAY that he acknowledged some of the criticisms were "valid comments and concerns". He has therefore decided not to take down the video or restrict comments because he sees this episode as giving possible "learning points".

He explained that he tried the hack "out of curiosity" with no intentions of taking advantage of it, adding that it was a "one-off attempt".

The Ikea ice cream hack first emerged on the internet in 2020 and later saw people from different countries trying the hack and posting it online.