Duh. Americans like ice cream because it's full of milk, sugar, and fat, all delicious things. Plus it's nice to have something cold to eat on a hot day, and we have plenty of those. Besides, there's nothing more American than overconsumption. Laurence Brown, as is his habit, researches all those American things that we never think much about. In this video he goes over the history of American ice cream. It was Thomas Jefferson who popularized the dish in the US (as he did macaroni and cheese). Brown reveals that American ice cream also benefitted from the country's huge size, when ice was harvested in cold areas and transported to the whole nation, even the hot parts.
I love ice cream, even though I don't eat it much. My teeth are too cold-sensitive. But when I had a houseful of people living here, there was always at least two kinds always available. This video has a one-minute ad at 3:04.