Ben & Jerry’s Will Save Literature and Libraries
One of the best linguistic outcomes of Barack Obama’s run for president (remember those days?) was the Ben & Jerry’s flavor Yes Pecan! The name was witty and energetic, and the proceeds from scoop sales went to the non-partisan, non-profit Common Cause Education Fund.
Now that the din and excitement of the election has long passed us by, what are we to do for new Ben & Jerry’s flavors? Well, a New Jersey librarian has taken up the cause. On her Facebook page, she began a petition for the next Ben & Jerry’s flavor to be named after something library related. The idea has since morphed into all things writing and reading related. The petition, which she started in June, has now grown to 4,800 members strong, and along with these numbers, the witty names have been rolling in. Suggestions have included Gooey Decimal System (brilliant!), Sh-sh-sh-Sherbet, and Rocky Read. News of the petition has spread to Jezebel and to The New Yorker’s Book Bench blog, both of which had their stable of devoted readers leave more suggested flavors. (Bananas Foster Wallace is my favorite from The Book Bench.) The LA Times book blog, Jacket Copy, believes the best one yet is Malt Whitman, which was imagined by one of Ben & Jerry’s own flavor creators. So, in the name of snowballing web fun-ness, here’s a few more.
Heart of Darkness: This could be chocolate piled on top of chocolate. Anything chocolate you could fit in there. In honor of Joseph Conrad.
War and Pieces: Though it may be a bit brutal sounding, I think it has potential. One could swirl together French vanilla and cherry and blueberry (the Russia Empire flag was red and blue) ice creams with some ruble chocolate pieces thrown in.
Goosebumps and Berries: A fruity concoction with gooseberries and other berry-flavored “bumps.” Homage to R.L. Stine.
And a few more: “Henry Wadsworth Marshmellow,” “Alphabetical Porter,” and “It Was the Best of Limes, It was The Worst of Thymes Sherbet.”
What other library-related, or literature-related, flavors should Ben & Jerry’s consider?
via Jacket Copy | A Malt Whitman sundae? | Los Angeles Times.
via People for a library-themed Ben & Jerry’s flavor! | Facebook.
via Tasty De-Lit: The Book Bench : The New Yorker.
via I Scream (Shhh!) – Ben and Jerry’s – Jezebel.
Post Your Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment
T/S Members
Log in with your True/Slant account.
Super post, Nick! Ben and Jerry’s & literature? What’s not to like? Linked it to my FB page-
Meri,
Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks. And please do feel free to suggest some library-themed flavors here. I think True/Slant readers have got some good ones in them.
Nick, I love this. So much. If we can do this for ice cream, what can’t we do?
Vickie,
If we can do this for ice cream and libraries, I see no reason why this can’t go into other areas that need a good boost of revitalized interest. How about a new flavor based on math? Or what about a new one devoted to great Delta Blues singers?
In response to another comment. See in context »What a fun story!
A Moveable Feast
A Midsummer Night’s Cream
The Sno-Cones of Kilimanjaro
The Red and the Black and White (sort of an elegant neopolitan; two kinds of liquorice bits and vanilla)
The Scarlet Batter (some sort of cookie dough thing, although I hate cookie dough)
Caitlin,
A Moveable Feast is a good one. I think that should have in it wine-flavored ice cream considering the amount of drinking done in the book. I also love The Scarlett Batter.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] from True Slant here. By: blacklin Date: August 1, 2009 11:38 am Categories: LibrariesPost tags:Libraries [...]
Slipped over to the New Yorker column-some good suggestions there-
Even Cowgirls Get the Blueberries-(big-thumbed bluberries with psychedelic swirls)
Oscar Wilde Cherry-(cordial-soaked cherries, over-the-top maraschinos)
ok, i tried
Meri,
Oscar Wilde Cherry is great. Wild cherry almost seems befitting of his personality as well. Nice one.
In response to another comment. See in context »The Crunchback of Notre Dame, Canterberry Tales, Splendor in the Molass…es, The Brothers Maraschino.
The Brothers Maraschino!
Even if this library or book themed Ben & Jerry’s flavor never gets made, at least this has provided lots of people with a good brain exercise. Maybe some of the people who are writing these comments elsewhere on the Internet will have the thought to re-read that classic that has been sitting on their shelves for so long.
In response to another comment. See in context »A Chocwork Orange, A Midsummer Night’s Cream (& Berries), Under the Marshmallow…
Mary,
A Chocwork Orange has great potential. Though it seems that pretty much every element of that book would make for a pretty heavy and dystopic flavored ice cream.
In response to another comment. See in context »Nick-You can actually go to B & J website and suggest ice cream names/flavors. Of course, they have their own creative think tank, but they said they have used consumer suggestions before-
Meri,
It’s amazing that you can go to the website and suggest flavor names. I wonder if a unified effort to submit names through them, or this facebook page will be more effective? It’s yet another example of facebook as a pretty powerful conduit for change.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] Update part 2: Nicholas Basbanes’ blog on Fine Books Magazine. Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life. Baltimore Sun’s Read Street Blog. Epicurious. The National (United Arab Emirates). Journal Star The Book Report (Lincoln, NE). True/Slant. [...]