The election cycle is perking up, but Ben & Jerry's thinks our democracy has "gone a little sour."
So the brand made an extra sweet (and punny) ice cream to help "get big money out of politics," expand voter access and voting rights, participate in our democracy and, OK, get you to eat more ice cream.
Called Empower Mint, the creamy peppermint ice cream was launched as part of the brand's Democracy Is In Your Hands campaign, a yearlong effort to bring attention to social issues, such as voter ID laws in North Carolina that Ben & Jerry's says "disproportionately keep African-Americans and other minorities from casting their ballots, confusing registration processes and shorten[ing] early voting periods."
"The richer you are, the louder you speak," they say.
But no matter what your political views might be, you'll agree that the pun factory responsible for such flavors as "Cake My Day," "Karamel Sutra," "Cherry Garcia" and "Boom Chocolatta" have done it again.
Empower Mint works on several levels: It is peppermint ice cream, it puns on empowering the people, and it wants to take the "mint" out of politics.
Also it just tastes really good. A subtly creamy peppermint flavor with brownie chunks and fudge swirls is just what you need at the end of a long day of fielding robocalls or pretending to read all those campaign e-mails from Hillary Clinton.
"[We] stand up for the right to participate in our democracy, a right that so many people fought and died for," co-founder Ben Cohen said in a statement. "Since our country's inception, many brave Americans have battled to expand voting rights and voter access for African Americans, for women and young people, but the recent passage of restrictive policies in North Carolina takes our country backwards."
This isn't the first time the company has dabbled in politics -- Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arrested last month in Washington D.C. while participating in Democracy Awakens demonstrations -- but it definitely feels like this is the most political the brand has been in recent years.
"Sometimes when we’re passionate about something," the company says, "we express it through ice cream. It’s our own special way of showing how much we care."
The new flavor is available now at Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops and in pints nationwide.
