If you are a fan of Ben & Jerry’s icecream like I am, you have probably noticed their funny flavors. If not, check out the icecream isle next time your at the grocery store. Half Baked, Magic Brownies, Karamel Sutra... the list of witty names goes on. Ben & Jerry’s has shown a lot of activism as a company, supporting Occupy Wallstreet, environmental issues and other current events. They even celebrated the fight for gay rights by renaming their “Chubby Hubby” icecream to “Hubby Hubby”.
Ben & Jerry’s decided to go out with a bang when they whipped out “Schweddy Balls”, their new featured flavor last year in reference to a popular SNL skit. The icecream is rum flavored with fudge malt balls, staying true to the "mouth-watering Schweddy rum ball family recipe". Many consumers began to think they were starting to push the envelope. The carefree company let it be known that they were not going to worry about complaints and just wanted to have some fun and honor the hilarious Alec Baldwin skit. Mothers were saying that they didn’t want to hear their children asking for schweddy balls. Some organizations tried to boycott and resist Schweddy Balls. Many were offended and viewed the flavor inappropriate.
Despite your view on the Schweddy Ball controversy, there is a lot of respect to be given for Ben & Jerry’s as a business. They started out selling icecream out of a gas station in a small town in Vermont and are now known and loved nationwide. The 30 year old company has grown drastically despite their edginess and risky stances.
So has their gutsiness been a positive marketing strategy? Do you still there no such thing as bad publicity? And lastly-- will you resist their Schweddy Balls?
Other cool flavors include “Americone Dream” honoring Stephen Colbert, “Late Night Snack” honoring Jimmy Fallon, and “Cherry Garcia” in respects to Grateful Dead’s guitarist Jerry Garcia.
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