On Friday, the Boston Globe reported that the Harvard Square location of Ben & Jerry's had begun to sell a limited-release ice cream flavor called "Taste The Lin-Sanity," honoring Harvard graduate and New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin. The flavor originally contained vanilla frozen yogurt, lychee honey swirls and fortune cookie pieces. The fortune cookies were replaced with a waffle cookie after some initial backlash -- apparently from people upset about Asian stereotypes associated with using a fortune cookie and because the cookie itself was soggy.
Deadspin cheekily points out that lychee is also native to Asia, yet the inclusion has not been as controversial as the fortune cookie:
Also, "Taste The Lin-Sanity" features lychee, which is a fruit native to Southeast Asia, which is not the part of Asia that Jeremy Lin comes from. (The part of Asia that Jeremy Lin comes from is Northern California.)
Deadspin also references the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) advisory on Jeremy Lin and food references. AAJA says, "Is there a compelling reason to draw a connection between Lin and fortune cookies, takeout boxes or similar imagery? In the majority of news coverage, the answer will be no."
The shop apologized Saturday, in a statement and via Twitter, to anyone who was offended.
Not everyone was bothered by the fortune cookies though, or the Lin-spired flavor altogther. The pints are now sold out.
Check out Ben & Jerry's Boston Twitter apology: