Ben & Jerry's announced their newest ice cream flavor which sounds anything but appealing. Schweddy Balls is the best they could come up with. The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive. Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.
The name originated from a Saturday Night Live skit featuring Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy, owner of a holiday bakery called Season's Eatings. "There are lots of great treats this time of year," Schweddy says. "Zucchini bread, fruitcake, but the thing I most like to bring out at this time of the year are my balls."
He then explains that he sells popcorn balls, cheese balls, rum balls—balls for every taste—and the ball puns proceed for about four minutes. Ben & Jerry's chose to go with fudge-covered rum and malt balls for their flavor. The skit culminates in Baldwin stating that "No one can resist my Schweddy Balls."
In the past, Ben & Jerry's has released controversial ice creams, like a special edition of Chubby Hubby called Hubby Hubby last year which celebrated gay marriage. It seems that offending customers has become an annual tradition for Ben & Jerry's.
The ice cream is being released in a limited batch, which means it will be distributed nationwide but only for three or four months. If it proves popular, another batch might be forthcoming, but we hope not.
"The name is irreverent," says Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood. "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."
TAKE ACTION
Please send Ben & Jerry's Public Relations Manager, Sean Greenwood, an email letter requesting that no additional Schweddy Balls ice cream be distributed. Also, highly recommend they refrain from producing another batch with this name or any other offensive names or you will no longer be able to purchase their products.
One million annoying, permanently offended silly women.
I get more annoyed about this gak than I should..
Inn the US/UK especially, we are nations of spineless, constantly complaining, cowardly, snivelling little victims. Everyone is always fething complaining about something utterly fething banal. Is that blaming the victim? I fething hope so.
Oh yes, I deserve free healthcare, I deserve to go to university, I deserve free money, I deserve everything because I just deserve it.... nnnngggggghhh
NO NO NO. DOUBLE ENTENDRE ICECREAM MADE ME RAPE HER, WHY ISNT UNIVERSITY FREE? ID BE A DOCTOR THEN HONEST..ITS NOT MY FAULT MY LIFE IS gak, ITS BEN AND JERRY AND MATTYS FAULT!
What a completely pointless thing to get bothered about. I kind of wonder if this is one of those pretend outrage groups that are just there to get publicity for a product.
mattyrm wrote:NO NO NO. DOUBLE ENTENDRE ICECREAM MADE ME RAPE HER, WHY ISNT UNIVERSITY FREE? ID BE A DOCTOR THEN HONEST..ITS NOT MY FAULT MY LIFE IS gak, ITS BEN AND JERRY AND MATTYS FAULT!
While Ben and Jerry have been blamed unfairly, I think most people would agree just about everything that's bad everywhere in the world is your fault.
While Ben and Jerry have been blamed unfairly, I think most people would agree just about everything that's bad everywhere in the world is your fault.
Fairs fair, I might have been at fault regarding making Santa HIV positive, convincing Hitler to carry out mass genocide and arming the Lockerbie bomber, but I swear I haven't even met Simon Cowell.
While Ben and Jerry have been blamed unfairly, I think most people would agree just about everything that's bad everywhere in the world is your fault.
Fairs fair, I might have been at fault regarding making Santa HIV positive, convincing Hitler to carry out mass genocide and arming the Lockerbie bomber, but I swear I haven't even met Simon Cowell.
htj wrote:Much as this is a ridiculous thing to get upset about, I can't say as I'm keen to get Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls in my mouth.
Not the best name for a foodstuff.
That all depends on the target market.
gak, I bet Cannerus is buying gallons of this stuff.
Ha, the store I work at actually refused to carry it. We get the off request every now and then. And I'm more into the Gaga breast milk ice cream myself.
I've heard tell of an egg and bacon ice cream, created by making ice cream with eggs from chickens that were fed a high-bacon diet. That, to me, is the height of unnatural. Although I do envy the chickens.
But those are sphere related items not schoolboy references. They could be used as double entendres but are used legitimately all the time.
The issue is the comedic reference to genetalia and the ice cream referring to that.
A bunch of macho wargamers with schoolboy humour will just giggle as they lick the sweaty balls ice cream.
Middle America will find it offensive.
Despite my earlier comments, I have suddenly become passionate about, I dunno, saving the children or whatever. As a result I will heroicly consume gallons of this fudge-covered rum and malt flavour ice cream as it is brought to me by concerned citizens.
Are Ben & Jerry's planning any other ice-cream flavors based on poorly performed and obnoxious SNL skits?
I don't buy Ben & Jerry's simply because I cannot forgive them for getting rid of Fossil Fuel. Seriously, who doesn't love dinosaur-shaped pieces of fudge in their ice cream?
It could be worse. There is another related skit (I cannot seem to find it on Youtube, Damnit!) that just might in some horrible twist of fate inspire a hotdog company to put out a limited edition run of Schweddy Wieners. The horror!
I think this is standard issue. These kind of people have the Fear. It's irrational and constant; they're absolutely terrified of any scrape, bruise or blemish their little Johnny might have to suffer. They are also scared that Johnny might grow up one day, and would like to do every last thing in their power to prevent that from happening. After all, we can't let him find out about something so unnatural as sexuality or even just genitalia. And we definitely can't have him hearing dirty or off-color jokes.
In the past, Ben & Jerry's has released controversial ice creams, like a special edition of Chubby Hubby called Hubby Hubby last year which celebrated gay marriage. It seems that offending customers has become an annual tradition for Ben & Jerry's.
So celebrating gay marraige is offensive, eh? I hope each and every one of these mothers' children grow up to be homosexual. That'll learn 'em.
Perhaps a sausage flavored ice cream would be appropriate for the situation?
I seriously think that Ben & Jerry's could take this in awesome directions. They should release a flavor called "Wholesome Middle America" and have it be the most bland skim-milk based vanilla ice cream they can manufacture.
It would actually be fantastic for mid-westerners. They could use a couple scoops of low-fat mixed in with the real deal. You should come see people around here. I think most haven't seen their genitalia for a while.
Who is that crazy chef? Bloomensthal?
He has probably already done that, have seen fish ice cream
Just occured to me that housewiffery has changed a great deal since I were a lad
It used to be. 'A million housewives every day, pick up a tin of beans and say, "Beanz meanz Heinz!" '
Now they are too busy complaining about ice cream flavours to say advertising slogans whilst holding groceries.
Don't know what this world is coming to!
MrH wrote:Some people are just not happy unless they're outraged or moaning about something.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said it well:
There are people who have an appetite for grief; pleasure is not strong enough and they crave pain. They have mithridatic stomachs which must be fed on poisoned bread, natures so doomed that no prosperity can sooth their ragged and dishevelled desolation.
He was also known for posing for the American versions of the Where's Wally books.
htj wrote:The thing that stuck out for me the most is this:
In the past, Ben & Jerry's has released controversial ice creams, like a special edition of Chubby Hubby called Hubby Hubby last year which celebrated gay marriage. It seems that offending customers has become an annual tradition for Ben & Jerry's.
So celebrating gay marraige is offensive, eh? I hope each and every one of these mothers' children grow up to be homosexual. That'll learn 'em.
I hope the mother that started this petition is eating her breakfast in ten years time and her son appears on TV wearing ass-less chaps at a gay pride parade in San Francisco.
Well, I can proudly say that I have taken action on this terrible issue, sending the following email through the OneMillionMoms website (I may have edited the email slightly from their standard form text). Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I encourage you all to take action as well.
Dear Mr. Greenwood:
As a rational member of society with a sense of humor, I must applaud your company for releasing the Schweddy Balls ice cream flavor and apologize on behalf of my fellow human being for the form letters coming to you from the One Million Moms site. It's nice to see a company these days that isn't trying to gag itself due to overblown concerns of being politically correct. I very much hope that this trend continues and that you don't bow to pressures being exerted by pushy moms trying to ruin everyone else's fun.
I look forward to hearing from you regarding my concern.
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:A bunch of macho wargamers with schoolboy humour will just giggle as they lick the sweaty balls ice cream.
Middle America will find it offensive.
I don't think that's true. It just isn't the 50s anymore, I just can't see that many people getting worried about a humourless double entendre.
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Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Schoolboy humour has its place
Prefereably in the schoolyard, but still not convinced it is a good aid for the naming of desserts.
It's certainly lame, and I doubt it'd help sell ice-cream at all, but it isn't offensive.
You're a tough minded Aussie wargamer. So you shrug it off
It is a schoolboy joke which tbh isn't worth a million mothers tying their apron strings in a knot for. But they have, so if we can't see people getting bothered by it any more is obviously a miscalculation. Just because we shrug it off and call it inoffensive is not the point, others still might find the humour inapproriate for commercial use to sell an ice cream.
And I bet it will help sales. No such thing as bad publicity.
Sorry Corpses Hope this serious and late reply helps
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:A bunch of macho wargamers with schoolboy humour will just giggle as they lick the sweaty balls ice cream.
Middle America will find it offensive.
I don't think that's true. It just isn't the 50s anymore, I just can't see that many people getting worried about a humourless double entendre.
Perhaps some sort of time bubble has formed around them.
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:You're a tough minded Aussie wargamer. So you shrug it off
It is a schoolboy joke which tbh isn't worth a million mothers tying their apron strings in a knot for. But they have, so if we can't see people getting bothered by it any more is obviously a miscalculation.
Just because we shrug it off and call it inoffensive is not the point, others still might find the humour inapproriate for commercial use to sell an ice cream.
But they're just a collection of people who are organised to go and complain about random stupid stuff. Being outraged is basically their hobby. Something doesn't actually have to be offensive for them to get bothered by it, it just has to be close enough for them to convince themselves they can get all high and mighty about the issue. No-one anywhere is actually bothered by a vague double-entendre drawn from a humourless SNL skit. Afterall, the connection between balls & gonads exists entirely in the reader's head, if someone was a genuinely innocent person they'd never make the connection.
And yeah, I think Ben & Jerry are extremely happy with the amount of publicity this non-issue is getting them. There's been cases over here in the media where some mildly risque thing has existed for a long time, before one complaint is lodged about, then the whole thing becomes a media circus as we're all asked if this mildly risque thing is going too far, all because the PR group from the original company is running about the media stations getting them to talk about this non-issue.
B &J don't get a lot of credit imho for a cheap publicity stunt.
Whether we agree or not and irrespective of the skewed ideology that is driving the organised protest, it is still not an appropriate reference for a dessert.
The AFA moms ought look to themselves however, and ask themselves what their saviour would be concerned about. Not that I can presume to speak for the Son of God, but issues such as poverty are surely more of worthy causes for a Christian to get animated about. Assume that the big J would be wanting to fix that than the name of a new flavour of dessert.
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:B &J don't get a lot of credit imho for a cheap publicity stunt.
I speculated it might be, but we really have no idea. They could have just liked the SNL skit. I mean, someone must still think that show is funny, why not Ben and/or Jerry?
Whether we agree or not and irrespective of the skewed ideology that is driving the organised protest, it is still not an appropriate reference for a dessert.
Why? It's a reference to a skit that made an entirely silly but hardly grotesque reference to genitals.
The AFA moms ought look to themselves however, and ask themselves what their saviour would be concerned about. Not that I can presume to speak for the Son of God, but issues such as poverty are surely more of worthy causes for a Christian to get animated about. Assume that the big J would be wanting to fix that than the name of a new flavour of dessert.
Yeah, there's that. There's also the trap of outrage, because it gives the offended such a wonderful buzz of self-righteousness, without having to actually do anything useful. Getting people to stop playing the outrage game is a good thing just by itself, whether or not they instead spend their time helping the poor or playing minesweeper.
"I get my balls out every summer. fnar fnar" Well if you like the image of someone's nadgers while licking your lolly that is your business.
Again macho gamer not offended by danglies joke. Gosh we are so hard and radical. Let us mock a million housewives for being a bunch of prudes
Good grief do we need get so indignant about housewives protesting against ice cream? Not sure we are behaving any better.
Am sure B&J like lots of other things, some might have been better suited for naming of the sweet. iirc there was a comment about B&J being irreverant. So it is not the first time.
Ice cream makers sticking it to the man! Right on, that'll shake things up.
Sorry to be so staid, but it is a question of etiquette. I would not say "bollocks" ordinarily on Dakka and will hope the mods forgive the use in the context of illustrating a point. I will use alternatives or as usual talk a load of old bocklols. The vast majority of Dakkanauts are, as said a bunch of hard nosed thick skinned orks who swear like troopers.
However I would not use any such language on Facebook for example. It is inappropriate and wholly unecessary. Ditto the genetalia reference in the high street store freezers.
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:
However I would not use any such language on Facebook for example. It is inappropriate and wholly unecessary. Ditto the genetalia reference in the high street store freezers.
Why is it inappropriate? Does it make you uncomfortable?
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:I was thinking of others not myself
Which is the crux of the problem. Sometimes we (the rest of society) don't want other people (hyperventilating mothers who bubble wrap their kids) thinking of whats good for us.
Let me be offended. Let me be shocked. Present me with things I do not like. Don't veil everything in this semi-opaque fog that is carefully measured by corporate experts to be barely edgy enough to sell, yet wholesome enough that bored housewives are offended.
You're being facetious, dogma. The belief thatreferences to sex organs should be kept out of mainstream media and certainly out of sight of children is one that is commonly held by the majority of the population of Western society. You already know the answer to your questions. They think it is innappropriate because it goes against this widely held belief, and yes, it does make them uncomfortable.
htj wrote:You're being facetious, dogma. The belief thatreferences to sex organs should be kept out of mainstream media and certainly out of sight of children is one that is commonly held by the majority of the population of Western society. You already know the answer to your questions. They think it is innappropriate because it goes against this widely held belief, and yes, it does make them uncomfortable.
I'm not being facetious, I'm well aware that said belief is widely held. I want to know why its widely held.
Honestly? Shame. You need something to make people feel shameful about, otherwise they won't crawl back to you and your deity's International House of Pancakes looking for redemption. A lot of organized religion is built around guilt, because it offers a means of control.
What better a way to implement guilt than by associating something every last healthy person is naturally programmed to do with 'badness'?
No, this is true. However, that is the school of thought that is influence this conglomerate of moms, I would hazard. It seems likely that the vast majority of them, if questioned, would state their religion as Christian.
As to the root of the demonisation of sexuality, well, that's possibly too big a subject for a thread discussing a furore over ice cream.
daedalus wrote:Honestly? Shame. You need something to make people feel shameful about, otherwise they won't crawl back to you and your deity's International House of Pancakes looking for redemption. A lot of organized religion is built around guilt, because it offers a means of control.
What better a way to implement guilt than by associating something every last healthy person is naturally programmed to do with 'badness'?
Non-religious people don't have a concept of shame?
Actually, there's an interesting differentiation between guilt-based society and shame-based society. The Christian West is an example of a guilt-based moral system, where the chastisement comes from within due to breaking a code that is given to you by an omniscient being. An example of a shame-based moral system is Japan, where the censure comes from failing to adhere to the social role you are meant to uphold. It's a subtle difference, but it leads to some interesting differences in society.
htj wrote:
As to the root of the demonisation of sexuality, well, that's possibly too big a subject for a thread discussing a furore over ice cream.
We've had more extreme deviations before.
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daedalus wrote:Honestly? Shame. You need something to make people feel shameful about, otherwise they won't crawl back to you and your deity's International House of Pancakes looking for redemption. A lot of organized religion is built around guilt, because it offers a means of control.
What better a way to implement guilt than by associating something every last healthy person is naturally programmed to do with 'badness'?
Religion isn't predicated on guilt, though guilt is often used in order to perpetuate power structures within a given faith.
I never said that. Shame is something natural that humans feel when they've fethed up. I'm saying that generally religious people or those who had a upbringing in a predominantly religious-based culture have more of a sense of shame about subjects of sexuality than those who aren't. We're made to feel shameful about our bodies, like we're bad people for having those bits.
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You raise a good point. There is a distinction there I fear I wasn't considering initially.
htj wrote:
As to the root of the demonisation of sexuality, well, that's possibly too big a subject for a thread discussing a furore over ice cream.
We've had more extreme deviations before.
Heh, true, I've witnessed some spectacular ones myself. But, to be fair, it goes too far beyong the extent of my knowledge, so I'll not be the one to deviate.
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:"I get my balls out every summer. fnar fnar"
Well if you like the image of someone's nadgers while licking your lolly that is your business.
Again macho gamer not offended by danglies joke.
Gosh we are so hard and radical. Let us mock a million housewives for being a bunch of prudes
The point is that no-one is actually offended by this. Go out into the street and yell out 'balls' at the top of your lungs. People will think you're childish or lame, but they won't be shocked. They won't be quickly covering their children's ears.
You keep working on the assumption that there must be something offensive going on for a group to feign outrage, and it just doesn't work that way. Being able to think of oneself as a brave moral crusader is a powerful thing. So much so that people will go looking for something to be outraged over.
