It’s somehow appropriate that in the middle of a long
Republican presidential primary season, a free ice cream day puts Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the spotlight. The New England
based ice cream maker has thrived on the attention it generates by
commemorating various political events with limited edition flavors.
Every year, Ben & Jerry’s designates a single day as
open season on its delicious, surprise-packed ice cream. This year, it was
April 3, and between noon and 8:00 PM employees at the popular ice cream shops
worked overtime dishing out free scoops to customers of all political stripes.
After all, free ice cream brings everyone together, right?
In 2009, the Vermont
ice cream makers took action in what we can only hope will be the start of a
new tradition. With the inauguration of President Obama, Ben & Jerry’s
offered a limited-time special recipe in honor of the event—appropriately
titled “Yes Pecan.” Ice cream lovers had to act quickly to get their scoop of
buttery roasted pecan-flavored ice cream, though; Yes Pecan was only available
for a month.
Before 2009, there had never been a Ben & Jerry’s flavor
dedicated to a U.S.
president, although numerous other celebrities and causes have found themselves
on those irresistible pint containers in the grocery store freezer. Political
comedian Stephen Colbert, late night host Jimmy Fallon, and basketball player
Jeremy Lin are some of the best-known flavor stars. President Ronald Reagan, the founder of National Ice Cream Day, came pretty close to having a flavor named after him, according to Ben
Greenwood (Yes, that Ben). It would
have been filled with jelly beans, Reagan’s sweet treat of choice.
If a Republican wins the presidential election in November,
will we see another presidential flavor from Ben & Jerry’s? It’s delicious
to speculate on just what it might taste like. Rick Santorum has gone on the
record praising chocolate—the darker, the better—and admits to an ice cream
addiction. Newt Gingrich has a well-known penchant for Diet Coke; that would be
an interesting flavor to say the least. And Mitt Romney, with his New England roots, suggests cranberries and lobster.
Well, maybe just cranberries.
Who knows; perhaps Ben & Jerry’s 2013 free ice cream day
(yet to be scheduled, so sadly we can’t put it on our calendars yet) will feature
a brand new Republican flavor to honor a new president. Or, if Obama wins a
second term, we might get a second shot at that Yes Pecan flavor!
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