Black & Tan.

The ice cream was available only in the United States, but the sweet stuff met with a bitter reception from Irish Americans. The company has since apologised.

It was named because it's a very popular drink in the US, " a company spokesman said this week, referring to a pint of ale topped with stout.

Flavours are always released in the United States before being for international use.

That's now being discussed."

Combining chocolate with (non-alcoholic) cream stout would raise eyebrows under any circumstances. Naming the product after a paramilitary force known for its brutality against civilians in Ireland's War of Independence, and then marketing it around Ireland's national holiday, is gobsmacking. That the blunder was committed by a company that has long traded on a reputation for being the world's most socially responsible brand is simply off the scale.

You can certainly tell the eponymous former owners are gone, can't you?" said incredulous public relations consultant Terry Prone when she stopped laughing. Conglomerate Unilever took over the company six years ago.

If they had just Googled 'Black & Tan' this wouldn't have happened. It's just unbelievable."

The story circulated on bogs for weeks before the company finally apologised last week.

Wait til they have Siege of Cherry or Orange March Sorbet, " wrote one wag on junkfoodblog. com.