Everybody knows Ben & Jerry's co-founders are longtime proponents of a good pun: they've given us "Karamel Sutra," "Boom Chocolatta," and "Cake My Day," among many other sweet, tongue-in-cheek flavors.
Now, they've taken their trademark wordplay one step further and are using puns as a conduit to help remediate our democracy, which they feel has "gone a little sour."
Allow us to help welcome the newest Ben & Jerry’s flavor: Empower Mint.
The limited batch is a fudge-filled peppermint ice cream blend with brownies swirled in. It puns on empowering We, the People, and it strives to take the “mint” out of politics.
“Democracy is in your hands!” reads the description of the ice cream on the Ben & Jerry’s website.
"This fudge-filled flavor reflects our belief that voting gives everyone a taste of empowerment, & that an election should be more ‘by the people’ and less ‘buy the people’. We all deserve an equal serving of democracy."
"We think democracy only works when it works for everyone. But since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law, a number of states have passed unacceptable voting access laws that make it harder for people [to] vote - particularly Black people and their allies in the rising new majority such as young people, students, and other people of color. That’s why we must stand together and call on our leaders to not only reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, but to fight back against new laws that undermine our freedom to vote, ensuring a democracy that works for everyone."
The new Empower Mint flavor follows in the footsteps of previous politically-charged Ben & Jerry’s ice creams of the past: WHBQ reports that other flavors such as “I Dough, I Dough” and “Save Our Swirled” were created to support same-sex marriage and fight climate change.
Additionally, the ice cream magnates debuted a mint-based Bernie Sanders ice cream in honor of the 2016 presidential race earlier this year.
“Sometimes when we’re passionate about something,” the company writes on its website, “we express it through ice cream. It's our own special way of showing how much we care.”
You can buy the new flavor now at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops and in pints nationwide.