Ben & Jerry’s “Taste the Lin-Sanity”

A tactic successful companies use is to find a way to connect with customers as a means to drive sales. It could be the Pope using Twitter to remind people about Lent (driving them to go to Church and keep the Faith), or creating a new ice cream named after a rising NBA star; either way they work quickly to capture the target audience using the tools at their disposal.

A special edition ice cream by Ben and Jerry’s called “Taste the Lin-Sanity” had been sold only at it’s Harvard Square location in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It contained vanilla yogurt and fortune cookies but unfortunately, the reaction from some wasn’t what the company had anticipated. Complaints about the fortune cookies signifying racism lead Ben & Jerry’s to immediately release a statement and stop production, changing the fortune cookie to a waffle cone. The company released a statement apologizing for the ingredient some found racially inappropriate:

We offer a heartfelt apology if anyone was offended by our handmade Lin-Sanity flavor

Ben and Jerry’s acted professional and made the right moves to avoid further scrutiny. Interestingly enough, there are other popular food products that many overlook every day that aren’t the most politically correct. Say, Eskimo pies, or wait a minute… who is Aunt Jemima again? About.com goes into depth about even Uncle Ben:

On packaging, Uncle Ben appeared to be a menial type, as suggested by his Pullman Porter-like attire. Moreover, the title “Uncle” likely derives from the practice of whites addressing elderly African Americans as “uncle” and “aunt” during segregation because the titles “Mr.” and “Mrs.” were deemed unsuitable for blacks, who were regarded as inferior.

In other news, french fries remain French and apple pie is still considered an all-American dessert. In conclusion, if you’re calling an an entire nation of people a food or if you’re ignorant enough not to know the history of a product, we’re all set.