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Seven-Dollar Social Justice Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry, the best Baby Boomers ever, invite you to fight Trump by commercializing counterculturalism

A reader, an immigrant to this country, e-mailed this afternoon to say that he’s so demoralized by the left and the right both that he’s sitting this election out. “I am really getting tired of everything,” said the reader, who lamented how everything is “politicized.”

And now, this crap from insufferable rich hippies:

Here’s the text on the Ben & Jerry’s website:

 

 

 

That took me a second. Down here in Louisiana, where we grow pecans, we pronounce it “puh-CAHN”. The rich hippie ice cream people are saying “pee-can.” Pee Can Resist. Wow. Nothing puts a guy more in the mood for eating ice cream than the face of a scowling woman on the packaging.

If you go on the web page for the new flavor, you can see where Ben & Jerry’s is inviting its customers to submit their names and e-mail addresses to share with various activist groups they’ve designated as beneficiaries of a portion of the profits from the sale of Pecan Resist. Hey, no problem. But note well that the company also gets your information for its own marketing purposes.

Here’s some of the text under the company video for Pecan Resist. Say it aloud in a Harry Shearer announcer voice for the sheer ridiculousness of the thing:

We cannot ignore the Trump administration’s attacks on our values, our environment, and our very humanity. We cannot stand silent while disenfranchised groups are silenced and ignored. We must act, we must resist. Introducing Pecan Resist, a new Limited Batch flavor that packs so much more than fudge and nuts under its lid.

Here’s a funny (though very crude) reaction from the Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page:

Mmmph!

Ben & Jerry’s has been political from the get-go, so this is nothing new for them. Still, it’s pretty funny that there are actually people who believe that consuming six-dollar-a-pint ice cream is an act of solidarity with the People™, and a blow against Trumpism. If Ben & Jerry’s can separate earnest progressives from their money by commercializing counterculturalism, they’re observing a venerable Baby Boomer tradition. I’m happy to spread the news.

What would be a good pro-Trump flavor? Make America Grape Again sorbet? Meh, that’s kind of lame. Come on, people, help me out here.

UPDATE: Everybody go home, reader Sylvester J. Litzenberger IV (a pseudonym, duh) has won this thread with this flavor: TRUMPKIN SPICE.

UPDATE.2: Reader Jonah R:

What’s more, check out the fine print: Ben and Jerry’s is donating only $100,000 split four ways to those four organizations. This a company owned by Unilever, a $70 BILLION international corporation that is itself largely owned by five huge multinational finance and insurance firms. I could feed six bucks to a squirrel in my back yard and it would stand just as much chance of “making a difference” as this ice cream does.

Of course, the number of people who are going to buy and eat this ice cream is tiny. It’s available only at Ben and Jerry’s stores and through their website. So basically you won’t even see this in your grocer’s freezer at all. It’s not even a full-on publicity stunt; it’s almost pure virtue signaling.

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