Ben & Jerry's

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Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings, Inc.
Type
Founded	1978
Headquarters	South Burlington, Vermont
Key people	Yves Couette (CEO)
Industry	Retail
Products	Ice Cream
Owner	Unilever, PLC
Website	http://www.benjerry.com/

Ben & Jerry's is a brand of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Unilever.

Contents 1 Charitable Activities 2 Collaboration 3 Flavors 4 Black & Tan naming controversy 5 Trivia 6 External links

[edit] Charitable Activities

In 2005, Ben & Jerry's opened a store in Austin, Texas, operated by LifeWorks, a community organization that helps at-risk youth and families. The store provides job opportunities for LifeWorks clients. All profits from the store go directly to LifeWorks and Ben & Jerry's does not collect a franchise fee.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 2005, the company hosted "Sundae on the Common" on Clapham Common, London, UK, where for a £5 ticket, visitors could have unlimited ice cream, listen to live performances by The Thrills and other bands, and go on fun rides. The 2006 event took place on Sunday 30th July; tickets went on sale on the 19th May 2006 and sold out in 8 hours. Ticket proceeds went to regenerating Clapham Common.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Collaboration

Ben & Jerry's has collaborated with the World Wildlife Fund and explorer Marc Cornelissen to open the Climate Change College. Its aims are to educate normal young people on the science, the politics and the campaign strategies behind climate change so that they can then produce a successful campaign of their own. Students become ambassadors for preventing global warming and do their own research in the Arctic.^{[citation needed]}

Each year on one day either in late April or early May, Ben & Jerry's observes Free Cone Day, on the anniversary of its opening, as a "thank you" to its customers. On this day, over one million cones are given away. The 28th annual Free Cone Day was held on April 25, 2006. The 29th annual Free Cone day will be April 17, 2007.

[edit] Flavors

Main article: Ben & Jerry's flavors

[edit] Black & Tan naming controversy

In March 2006, Ben & Jerry's released Black & Tan, an ice cream flavor based on the Black and Tan "cream stout" drink, made from banana ice cream and non-alcoholic stout extract. With the packaging peeled off, the ice cream resembles a "pint" of beer.

The name is controversial as the Black and Tans were (not exclusively) former British soldiers deployed as a secondary police force wearing uniforms of khaki and black in Ireland during the War of Independence after 1918 to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in their work. Once there, they participated in a number of atrocities (including the burning of the centre of the city of Cork). However, the name for the drink was first used in 1889, and predated these political events.^{[citation needed]}

On April 21, 2006, the company apologized for using the "Black & Tan" flavor name on its ice cream. A Ben & Jerry's spokesman was quoted as saying, "Any reference on our part to the British Army unit was absolutely unintentional and no ill-will was ever intended."

[edit] Trivia

• Ben & Jerry appeared on the Colbert Report to plug their new ice cream flavor "Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream" and their "grassroots education and advocacy project" TrueMajority on March 5th, 2007.
• The Ben & Jerry's factory appeared in the film Me, Myself and Irene.
• In the film Miss Congeniality, the lead character ordered a full pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough while having lunch at a bar.
• A Ben & Jerry's store appeared in the movie World Trade Center. This is partly due to the fact that there really was a store in The Mall at the World Trade Center.
• Ben & Jerry's was the first brand-name ice cream to be taken into space aboard the Space Shuttle.
• Timothy McVeigh ordered two pints of Ben & Jerry's mint chocolate-chip ice cream as last meal before his execution that took place on June 11, 2001.
• Ben & Jerry's was spoofed as "Jen & Berry's Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream" in the 2006 South Park episode, "Smug Alert".
• In his song "Rubberband Banks", Young Dro references Ben & Jerry's when rapping about ice cream Chevys.
• In his song "Vivrant Thing", rapper Q-Tip references Ben and Jerry's in the line, "Sweeter than Ben and Jerry's."
• The 'Freedom' class of Royal Caribbean Cruise ships have a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop on board.
• Ben and Jerry's struck a deal with Six Flags and will be adding Ben and Jerrys to parks such as Six Flags Great Adventure.

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Ben & Jerry Bio at Greater Talent Network (Speakers Bureau)
• Climate Change College website
• Unilever website
• LifeWorks website
• Ubben Lecture at DePauw University
• Boston Phoenix Interview with founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield