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A drive by Englewood Cliffs-based Unilever USA’s Good Humor to help keep ice cream trucks on the road is really heating up.

After kicking off a $200,000 multiyear campaign to support frozen treat vendors last summer, the iconic ice cream brand teamed up with another banner owned by its parent company, Knorr, to “soup up” a New York City-based ice cream truck in advance of National Soup Day, Feb. 4.

Inspired by a viral social media post asking for a “soup truck” to help brighten up wintertime dreariness, the brands made this online dream a reality. One Soup Truck parked at New York City’s Union Square Feb. 2, handing out complimentary cups of two classic Knorr recipes – chicken ramen noodle soup and two-bean veggie chili – while supplies last.

ice cream trucks are great but in the winter we need a SOUP TRUCK. do they even understand how much money I’d spend if there was a truck rolling through my neighborhood every day doling out piping hot soup

— trash jones (@jzux) December 18, 2023

“Walking up to an ice cream truck sparks inherent joy throughout the summer months and now we’re able to give our fans something they asked for in the cold of winter while continuing to support our beloved drivers,” said Bentley King, U.S. head of ice cream operations at Unilever.

“We have been committed to helping Good Humor ice cream truck drivers sustain their businesses year-round and what better way to do this than by transforming one of these iconic trucks into a new, beloved beacon of wintertime – the Soup Truck,” King also said.

As ice cream truck vendors face more and more challenges, from rising costs to brick-and-mortar competition, Good Humor launched its $200,000 Neighborhood Joy commitment to provide business owners with partnerships, funding and other resources.

Two-thirds of Americans associate ice cream trucks with the summertime – not as a year-round treat – and thousands of ice cream trucks that spread joy to neighborhoods across the country vanish in the cold weather months, leaving many drivers looking for additional opportunities to make ends meet.

As part of its Neighborhood Joy platform, Good Humor launched the Neighborhood Joy Grant Program. The initiative will award grants to 16 mobile vendors and name a grand prize winner “Joy Driver of the Year.”