{"id":409420,"date":"2026-04-25T00:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/409420\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T00:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:15:10","slug":"ontario-company-behind-drake-ice-stunt-says-shutdown-was-unfortunate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/409420\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario company behind Drake ice stunt says shutdown was \u2018unfortunate\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A southwestern Ontario ice company is speaking out after its work became part of a viral and short-lived promotional stunt tied to Drake\u2019s upcoming album.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iceculture Inc., based in Hensall, Ont., produced more than 3,500 ice blocks used in the installation teasing the rapper\u2019s new project, Iceman.<\/p>\n

Heidi Bayley, president of Iceculture, said her team was brought on to execute a large-scale creative vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Drake team, led by Mr. Bable, did a really good job and had a clear vision,\u201d Bayley said. \u201cIceculture is known for large projects, and this is no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayley said she knew the installation was tied to Drake, but wasn\u2019t initially aware of the messaging behind it.<\/p>\n

The company supplied just over 3,500 uniform ice blocks, each weighing nearly 300 pounds and measuring roughly 50 by 101 by 25 cm.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

The blocks are made using a process called directional freezing, which produces crystal-clear ice by freezing water from the bottom up.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make just under 300-pound carving blocks specifically for ice sculptures,\u201d Bayley said.<\/p>\n

The timing of the project worked in the company\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually spring is quiet, so we had inventory,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were able to pull inventory to the size of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The installation quickly drew crowds, with some fans using tools like blowtorches, sledgehammers and pickaxes to break into the ice blocks, eventually revealing a hidden date: May 15.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Trending
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very surprised. I\u2019ve built a lot of sculptures in my time, and safety is always number one and very much top of the conversations happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised to see what was happening in reaction \u2026and it certainly got attention, which was the aim.\u201d<\/p>\n

The display was ultimately shut down following concerns from city officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire department\u2019s decision was unfortunate,\u201d Bayley said. \u201cI was disappointed for our client\u2026 it was doing a lot of positive things, but I understand the criticism around such installations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, she described the activation as a memorable moment.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was exciting. It was a moment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been nice if it lasted a little longer, but I respect the decisions that need to be made for the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayley added that, from her understanding, Drake \u201cwas pleased with the excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A southwestern Ontario ice company is speaking out after its work became part of a viral and short-lived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[437,434,435,436,245,438,1637,146,25563,85,46,193454,3963],"class_list":["post-409420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-drake","tag-entertainment","tag-iceman","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-toronto-ice-blocks","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}