Posted on 04/21/2006 7:01:45 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
Ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's have apologized for causing offence by calling a new flavor "Black & Tan" -- the nickname of a notoriously violent British militia that operated during Ireland's war of independence.
The ice cream, available only in the United States, is based on an ale and stout drink of the same name.
"Any reference on our part to the British Army unit was absolutely unintentional and no ill-will was ever intended," said a Ben & Jerry's spokesman.
"Ben & Jerry's was built on the philosophies of peace and love," he added.
The Black and Tans, so-called because of their two-tone uniforms, were recruited in the early 1920s to bolster the ranks of the police force in Ireland as anti-British sentiment grew.
They quickly gained a reputation for brutality and mention of the militia still arouses strong feelings in Ireland.
"I can't believe that Ben & Jerry's would be so insensitive to call an ice cream such a name and to launch it as a celebration of Irishness ... it's an insult!" wrote one blogger on www.junkfoodblog.com.
"I hope they don't try to launch it here in Ireland or I imagine they'll lose a lot of their fans."
Ben & Jerry's, a unit of Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever Plc, prides itself on its commitment to friendly business. Its mission statement includes a pledge to show "a deep respect for human beings inside and outside our company and for the communities in which they live."
Ben & Jerry's is sorry!
Were overweight primates upset about CHUNKY MONKEY flavor?
Or "Death's Head" - Rich German chocolate with tiny skull-shaped white chocolate bits! Come, celebrate the heritage of Germany!!!!
From Their website:
We've no idea how many Ben & Jerry's fans might also be beer enthusiasts, but we suspect that once you've tasted this incredibly heady blend of real cream stout and chocolate ice creams, you'll soon be raising more than a few pints of Black & Tan – and more than a few brew-aha!'s, too. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS: Cream, Liquid Sugar, Skim Milk, Water, Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), Egg Yolks, Malted Milk Powder, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Chocolate Extract, Carrageenan.
I was thinking "Uptight White".
Ku Klux Krunch
Ben & Jerry don't ever have to sweat bullets about this ol' boy crossing their threshold. It wouldn't happen if they held an M-1911-A1 to my dog's head.
I have this thing about Commie Bastards.
Al Queda bang strawberry Jihad
That actually looks good.
Irish Eyes
Mohamed madness cream swirl with pecans.
I LOVE to get a nice, cold Black & Tan after work. If they market this ice cream, I'll eat a tub of it for ya.
Maybe Ben & Jerry's could change the name to "Frozen Doberman" (see below).
From the BBC web site:
"It might well be called a Doberman in a jar; 'Black and Tan' is the name given to an alcoholic drink comprising of a 'mixture' of ale and stout, or sometimes lager and stout1.
The name itself is derived from a political reference to the black and khaki military uniforms worn by the special auxiliary force - 'The Black and Tans' - who were brought in to Ireland fight the Irish nationalists in 1920.
Normal practice for making a Black and Tan is to first pull half a pint of ale into a pint glass, and then, using a spoon placed under the tap, to roll the stout oh-so-gently on to the top of the ale layer.
Done properly, the procedure produces a Black and Tan; black stout on the top and tan ale, or lager, underneath. Brownian Motion aside, the two beers won't mix in the glass until they are disturbed, for example, by drinking.
A classic Black and Tan consists of a foundation of Bass Pale Ale topped by thick black Guinness, the combination of English and Irish beers somehow cementing the origin of the name."
I've known the connotation of a B&T for a while but the "Irish" pubs round here don't care. I'd never order one in a pub in Ireland, Boston or even Savannah.
Thanks for the info.
Which is why I get a Half and Half(Guinness and Harp) to keep it all Irish.
Can't name anything after Mohammed. Every Ben & Jerry's around the world and every store selling Ben & Jerry's would get burnt to the ground.
The Religion of Peace, don't you know.
Black and Tan isn't just an Irish reference -- it was a common and often derogatory name for multi-racial Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era conventions, legislatures, and political movements in the South after the Civil War.
For example, while the Louisiana state convention, made up of blacks, carpetbaggers, and scalawags, met in 1868, New Orleans whites ridiculed the event with a burlesque called, "The Black and Tan Convention." The "tan" was for anyone with less than 100% lily white, especially in politics.
Ben and Jerry's owes apologies to more than just the Irish.
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