Not everyone finds Ben & Jerry’s new “Schweddy Balls” flavored ice cream tasteful.
Conservative group One Million Moms finds the new flavor offensive and is calling for a boycott.
“The vulgar new flavor has turned something as innocent as ice cream into something repulsive,” the group, an offshoot of American Family Association, stated on its website. “Not exactly what you want a child asking for at the supermarket.”
The limited-batch ice cream flavor released recently was inspired by a “Saturday Night Live” skit of the same name.
The skit stars Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon as hosts of the “Delicious Dish,” a parody of a National Public Radio program. Alec Baldwin portrays a hilarious Pete Schweddy, the fictional owner of Season’s Eatings Bakery, who explains poker-faced to the show hosts that he has a variety of “Schweddy balls” — popcorn balls, cheese balls, rum balls suited for every taste among his special holiday offerings
Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson Sean Greenwood told ABCNews.com that in the last three days, he’s only heard from about 600 moms — not a million — complaining about the new flavor. At the same time, the company has received hundreds more e-mails that say things like, “We get the joke” and “We love you guys.”
“This is just about silly fun,” Greenwood said. “We didn’t name it for shock value. We did it because it’s a funny skit.”
“Schweddy Balls” isn’t the first time Ben & Jerry’s has spun a fun mixture of flavor and pop culture. Apparently, One Million Moms wasn’t amused when the company released a special edition of Chubby Hubby called Hubby Hubby last year to celebrate gay marriage.
“It seems that offending customers has become an annual tradition for Ben & Jerry’s,” the group said on its website.
As to that charge, Greenwood said, “We stick up for what we believe in.”
The company has plenty of fans. Alec Baldwin, who will be hosting the 37th season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 24, had this to say about the ice cream homage.
“For a long time, I thought that ‘Here Lies Pete Schweddy’ would end up on my tombstone,” said the legendary comedian and “30 Rock” actor in a Ben & Jerry’s press release. “Now, thanks to Ben & Jerry’s, the goodness of the Schweddy family recipe won’t go with me to the great beyond. It is immortalized here, right now, and it’s an ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s and Schweddy. Two great names in American dessert, together at last.”
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