Have you been to Ben & Jerry’s yet? Each summer, Ben & Jerry’s is the hottest and
coolest destination for ice cream lovers everywhere. Unknown to many, Ben & Jerry’s unique version
of the frozen sweet tooth magnet holds many delightful secrets that can simultaneously
titillate the palette and the brain. Now it can all be told. Here are the top 10 untold
truths about Ben & Jerry’s.
Ben & Jerry Are Real People
They’re not your average Tom, Dick or Harry and definitely not your average hippies. Ben
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were actually childhood friends from Merrick, New York who on May
5, 1978 decided to bet all their combined savings to start a fledgling ice cream business.
Luckily, the 12,000 US dollars and then some gambit paid off for the odd couple. And the
rest, of course, was history. Or else, we wouldn’t be here salivating over a Chocolate
Chip Cookie Dough ice cream or a Peanut Butter Cup. Everyone has their own favorite version
and for this year alone, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream making apparatus is spinning out
of control. Who’s responsible for all this ice cream mayhem and madness today? Well,
Ben & Jerry’s names are still inscribed on every ice cream carton known to every man,
woman and child on the planet. However, the dynamic duo are no longer in control of the
show. Worldwide food conglomerate Unilever bought the rights from Ben & Jerry’s homegrown
enterprise in 2000 and since then, ice cream flavor access will never be the same. We all
hate takeover bids especially the hostile ones. But this one, we can sure thank the
heavens for.
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Why Corporate Takeovers Are So Cool
This corporate takeover bid was as cool as ice cream. Because without it, the Ben & Jerry’s
sweet tooth fury would have only been unleashed in Vermont, and the United States at the most,
where the company is still headquartered. With food conglomerate giant Unilever, a Ben
& Jerry’s ice cream cone or gallon has now been made available to most parts of the world.
And the best thing about it is that the Punch and Judy show is still as vibrant as ever.
Translation: Even though they don’t have any controlling interest in the the worldwide
franchise business, Ben & Jerry are still pretty much the mascots of the enterprise,
showing up at most new flavor launches and other important functions. So that makes Ben
& Jerry kind of like the queen of England. As the titular heads with absolutely no controlling
interest, Ben & Jerry’s benign influence in running a Unilever show is funkier than
ever. When the food giant bought out Ben & Jerry’s ice cream game lock, stock and barrel at the
start of the second millennium, the worldwide company swore an oath to uphold the original
enterprise’s mission statement. Well, not really in that exact fashion. It actually
happened this way. A Godzilla of a corporation needed a kind of David and Goliath scenario
for drama queen purposes. With Ben & Jerry’s enduring reputation as a small yet innovative
voice in a burgeoning ice cream industry, a conglomerate would be best served by adding
a court jester into the mix.
Ben & Jerry’s - The Then Unknown Comedy Central of the Ice Cream Business
And thus, an alternate reality of sorts was born to perpetuate a virtual dynasty of ice
cream coolness. If you hadn’t been born by 1978, you would have missed all the Ben
& Jerry’s antics that made it survive to this day. But no worries. We’re about to
recreate them for you. Let’s begin with Baked Alaska; you know, that ice cream and
cake in one with brown meringue for a topping. Ben and Jerry, through sheer clownishness,
would inadvertently turn their so-called Cow Mobile into a life-size version of the famous
or infamous dessert—and lived to tell about it. After that 1986 clowning glory, Ben and
Jerry’s original Cow Mobile was no more. The dynamic duo used to tour the country in
that mobile home as they sold the gospel of free ice cream to the teeming American masses.
When premium ice cream magnate Häagen-Dazs first got wind of Ben and Jerry’s secret
plan to steal the Boston ice cream market like the Death Star, it filed an injunction
with the courts in a bid to counter the growing popularity of the duo’s cone, pint, and
gallon gambit. But by then it was too late, Ben and Jerry’s had already started the
kind of marketing fire that would, to this day, prove effective in creating an insatiable
appetite for frozen desserts.
Ben & Jerry’s is Having Fun and a Mission at the Same Time
Ben and Jerry’s absurd marketing antics would fumble from the 1980s and well into
the 1990s, but the crowds always forgave every mistake that the odd couple made. After all,
the two always made up by giving away free ice cream. And who in the world can resist
that temptation? Talk about Free Cone Day, an annual event where the Ben & Jerry team
gives away free ice cream to the tune of one million cones annually. Way to go. Like a
live comedy team, the Ben & Jerry tandem would continue to improvise on their marketing gimmickry.
Most of the time, however, they were just trying to learn from their very own fumbles
and foibles. They were not afraid to make mistakes and for this, the late US president
Ronald Reagan would hand them a pint-size trophy in 1988 for entrepreneurial excellence;
quite a small feat, but huge in publicity. Definitely, the Ben & Jerry’s brand benefited
from showing their vulnerability as well as their combined funny bone. At the same time,
however, Ben & Jerry never forgot that they were in this together for a higher purpose.
To illustrate, they would pioneer in supporting many charitable and other causes. No matter
how unpopular, Ben & Jerry campaigned vigorously as well as openly for LGBTQ rights particularly
gay marriage legislation. They also espoused the children’s right not just to enjoy an
ice cream cone, but the more important right to have access to all their basic needs. You
see, starting the I Scream for Ice Cream lifestyle early is a sound business strategy.
Ben & Jerry Arrested For Doing the Right Thing
Ben & Jerry had a blast from the ‘80s and well into the late ‘90s, and it was definitely
fun while it lasted. Their combined story would go down in history as the wackiest and
wildest way to make homemade ice cream. If you ever come across a mug shot of one or
the other, it would help to know that Jerry is the hairier of the two. Some sleuthing
with Washington capital police records reveals that early in 2016, the notoriously ice-cream-wielding
couple was summarily arrested after participating in a political rally on the US capitol steps.
And for the record, the bad boys also got a spat for naming one of their ice cream incarnations
Schweddy Balls just before the turn of the second millennium. I mean, who would name
an ice cream after an SNL skit? Ben & Jerry were trouble from the time they walked in
and yet people still bought their ice cream. How could you, me and Irene? It’s just such
a big risk, this chance that people are taking it all for the love of ice cream. These days,
they even have a scooping station in far-out Singapore.
Ben & Jerry’s is not all natural?
Oh yeah, caught in the act, this Ben & Jerry’s team. Corn syrup, hello? Serves them right,
and so by 2010, Ben & Jerry had to remove the all natural moniker and hullabaloo from
the face of their packaging. I mean, what took the authorities so long? Well, to begin
with, this Jekyll & Hyde team is really sly. The two even tried to switch to unbleached
carton packaging in 2001, but sooner or later, they had to revert back to the old habit because
they just couldn’t afford it. Consumer rights groups even found traces of an herbicide in
Ben & Jerry’s products in 2017, but no charges were filed. The Environmental Protection Agency
ruled that the use was within the safe levels required by the law.
Ice Cream Heaven
Unknown to many, Ben Cohen suffered from anosmia, a condition that prevented him from smelling
or tasting food. However, he would turn out to be a tremendous asset to the team as he
compensated for the curious disability by often looking for texture in everything he
ate. So in case you’re wondering where all those swirls and chunks were coming from—now
it can be told. Like Chubby Hubby for instance, an authentic Ben and Jerry’s ice cream that
consists of cascading fudge on vanilla malt and pretzel nuggets filled with peanut butter.
Or the famed Vermonster sundae which comes with a simultaneous cerebral and gustatory
overload of banana, cookie, brownie, and walnut chunks surrounded by fudge and whipped cream.
The classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven suffered from deafness, which would account
for his compositions often having sharp, strong and at times violent melodies and tempo. In
the same vein, Ben’s stamp on the now classic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors is obvious.
His overcompensation was his own stroke of genius.
Naming Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Flavors After Rock Bands: How Cool Is That?
Phish Food and Cherry Garcia are just a few of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors that
try to hitch the Cow mobile to the rock star phenom. In fairness, however, rock legends
need all the ice cream they can get. And comedians, too, for that matter. Liz Lemon, for instance,
has become a proud and enduring member of the Ben & Jerry Greek frozen yogurt offering,
Tina Fey be proud. You got to give it to these guys. I mean, they work long hours making
people sing and laugh. So definitely, they of all people, deserve all the ice cream credit
they can get. Want to sing at the top of your voice? Elsa of Frozen has the same idea. Ben
& Jerry’s caught on early to the environmental consciousness bandwagon and in so doing, blazed
their own frozen trail for it. Their products are free from GMOs. And as early as 1989,
Ben & Jerry’s has steered clear of cows getting injected with artificial hormones
in order to produce more milk. What they lacked in artificiality, however, they made up for
by advertently or inadvertently generating harmless and then not so harmless controversies
like selling Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on the West Bank. They even made a special ice
cream in support of Bernie Sander’s presidential campaign; Bernie’s Yearning was what it
was called. You can literally imagine Ben & Jerry at work in their ice cream making
machine, looking like two mad scientists with their lab suits and oversize goggles on. For
the Democratic cause, the pair decided that green mint covered by a thick slab of chocolate
is the one true epitome of the fact that the poor in America are getting poorer and the
rich are getting way more richer. And fatter, too for that matter. After all, there’s
a simple formula for making Ben Jerry’s ice cream. So here’s the inside scoop: Add
milk, cream, sugar, and eggs; and then all the show stoppers, please.
The Ben & Jerry’s Public Appearances that You and the Kids Have Managed to Miss
Probably because you’re not a night owl like us, you’ve managed to miss out if not
tune out Ben & Jerry’s appearances in the late night talk shows. Oh boy, that’s aplenty.
You did miss much. I mean, these guys are the Energizer bunny of the late night talk
tradition. And why not? Unilever is paying them for it. An ice cream flavor named Late
Night Snack? It’s not a prank, It’s for real. And the same goes for The Tonight Dough.
At the rate that these two are going, Ben & Jerry should have it’s own talk show.
With plentiful good graces from Alec Baldwin on Saturday Night Live, ice cream sandwich
could soon have a new name. Why hasn’t anyone thought of it yet? Bad publicity is still
publicity and the wacky duo knows this only too well to the tune of exploiting people
suffering from insomnia or sleep walking to the fridge or freezer. When will the wacky
duo strike again? Only Unilever knows. The company seems to have Ben & Jerry on a not
too tight leash, these days. The last time we checked, Jostein Solheim is still pretty
much Ben & Jerry’s CEO, although he seems to piggyback to everything the partners in
crime are saying like an Alexa robot. He sure knows how to tow the line. Everything may
look spontaneous and gone to the wacky races; but then again, it could all be scripted.
After all, from the Unilever takeover all the way to the present times, it seems that
Ben & Jerry haven’t changed a bit. They still seem to be at the top of their game.
I mean, Jerry is still hairier than ever. And that’s all so suspect.
The Out of this World Ben & Jerry’s Employee Perks You Never Heard of
If the rumors are true, Ben & Jerry’s employees will get three free pints of ice cream each
per shift. They also get to wear Waffle Cone cologne all day, and that’s if they have
a certified Ben & Jerry’s scooper status. To prove their loyalty and expertise, scoopers
jeepers must show without reasonable doubt that they know the difference between a waffle,
sugar and a cake cone. They should also know what they’re doing at all times especially
trying their best not to sneeze despite the natural cologne. The scooper position at Ben
& Jerry’s is certainly a great starting point and definitely one hell of a way to
siphon off all the recent gossip about the company and the latest who’s who roundup.
Scoopers know best, and they are trained to stomp their foot when somebody says that the
customer is always right. Although now world famous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream names like
Half Baked or Cookie Dough came from customer suggestions, there are times when management
believes that a customer has gone too far. Like, suggesting that bacon or chicken wings
be added into the flavor mix. And the biggest no-no of all: a mint and mango combo. While
employees get to travel every year to try all sorts of foods for their new flavor inspiration,
they know when to draw the line. Do you have a suggestion for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
name? Be careful. The walls have ears and the handwriting is on the wall.
What’s a Ben and Jerry’s flavor you’d love to see? Let us know in the comments below!
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