FOOD ISSUE SPECIAL: Latest Ben & Jerry’s flavor leaves some with bad taste
Written by Crow's Nest Staff, Oct 31, 2011, 0 Comments
Some people apparently can resist Alec Baldwin’s “Schweddy balls.”
Ben & Jerry’s released its latest limited-edition ice cream flavor in homage to the classic Saturday Night Live skit, in which Pete Schweddy, played by a deadpan Baldwin, tells the hosts of an NPR food show about his “tender” and “glistening” baked goods. The skit drips with perfectly tainted innuendo for over five minutes, earning it a place among Chris Farley’s motivational speaker bit and Will Ferrell’s “more cowbell” obnoxiousness as one of the show’s greatest hits.
Ben & Jerry’s “Schweddy Balls” sounds tasty, despite its name. It is a fair trade vanilla ice cream, laced with fudge covered rum and milk chocolate malt balls. The Vermont-based company hoped the flavor would kick off the holiday season with a wink of the eye and a jab of the elbow, but not everyone is laughing.
One Million Moms is an online activist group that lobbies media organizations to “let them know we are upset with the messages they are sending our children and the values (or lack of them) they are pushing.” They have been pushing to keep “Schweddy Balls” out of grocery store freezers since Ben & Jerry’s announced the flavor in September.
“The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive,” the group wrote on its website. “Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.”
A spokesman from Ben & Jerry’s said that, despite the flavor’s limited availability, it has become the most popular limited-edition flavor the company has produced.
“The name is irreverent,” said Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood, responding to One Million Moms. “But we’ve always been about having some irreverence and having some fun … We’re not trying to offend people. Our fans get the humor.”
Still, One Million Moms has succeeded in a few markets. Some chains, including Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, and many other single stores have refused to stock it.
“Schweddy Balls” isn’t the only Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor the activist moms are trying to melt from public view. They also criticized last year’s “Hubby Hubby” flavor, a special edition of its “Chubby Hubby” flavor that celebrated Vermont’s legalization of same-sex marriage.
The group doesn’t stop with ice cream pun names. One Million Moms has active campaigns against Fox series “Allen Gregory” for depicting a flirty 7-year-old, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” for allowing a transgender performer to explain that he was born a girl but is now a man, and Levi Strauss & Co. for being offensive to Christians in an advertisement that says, “the gods wait to delight in you, the gods will offer you chances.”
One Million Moms is dedicated to protecting children from danger and inappropriate content, which seems to actually mean stamping out any products or entertainment targeted toward adults. While “Schweddy Balls” is a risqué name, it is meant for adults, much like “Allen Gregory” and most Levi’s ads. Not all television shows are intended for children. Not all clothing styles are intended for children. Adults have every right to have their own ice cream flavor, as well.
One of the benefits of capitalism is that people who do not like a product have the ability to voice their concerns by not purchasing it. If millions of parents across the country find “Schweddy Balls” to be damaging to the welfare of their children, they can choose to leave it on the shelf. Chances are, if a kid sees the product and finds it funny, he or she already knows the meaning of the pun, and isn’t going to be harmed by it. If not, then great—nothing happened.
As for the rest of us, there’s nothing quite like a Schweddy Ball.
