Under scrutiny by anti-hazing advocates, the famed ice cream makers are being pressured to change the name of a new flavor.
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“Been Dazed and Confused for so long it’s not true. Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.”
Remember those classic Led Zeppelin lyrics from their debut album? Me, too.
“Well, all I’m saying is that I want to look back and say that I did the best I could while I was stuck in this place.”
Remember that line from the 1993 film Dazed and Confused? Ok, perhaps a few less of you depending on your state of mind while watching the cult classic.
Point is, the combination of the words “Dazed and Confused” has been a cultural mainstay for decades. Kind of like chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
Speaking of ice cream, back in February, Ben & Jerry’s, the eclectic ice cream company, released its flavor “Hazed and Confused.” Part of its Core series in which two flavors are combined in a package with a topping running through the center, this flavor combines hazelnut ice cream and chocolate fudge ice cream with a chocolate “Nutella-like” fudge core. Oh, by the way, the Nutella-like core is also made of hazelnuts.
Seems pretty logical. An ice cream with hazelnut flavoring and a hazelnut core, made by a company with a track record of punny flavors with a psychedelic flair (see Half Baked, Cherry Garcia, Imagine Whirled Peace, Phish Food) calls itself Hazed and Confused after a popular cultural reference point. If I’m imagining flavors like that, along with the psychedelic coloring of the stores, I’m thinking “hazed and confused” is accurate wording for the metaphorical drug-induced state I should be feeling upon eating the ice cream. Right? Wrong (apparently).
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As a result of customer feedback, change to the ice cream’s name is actually being considered at an annual Ben & Jerry’s global meeting in October.
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Recently, a North Carolina mother and father, Lianne and Brian Kowiak, whose son lost his life through a hazing incident in 2008, protested the ice cream name, and increased pressure has come from one of the largest national anti-hazing advocates, Hank Newer, to change the name.
As a result of customer feedback, change to the ice cream’s name is actually being considered at an annual Ben & Jerry’s global meeting in October. It’s important here to note two things. First, that only three official complaints have been received about the flavor name, yet a Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson held an audience with the Kowiaks to hear their concerns. Second, Ben & Jerry’s is very active with national issues of importance. Marriage equality, social justice, fair trade, climate justice–these are just a few of the issues for which Ben & Jerry’s actively advocates.
Has the company made mistakes in the past? Certainly. In 2012 Ben & Jerry’s apologized for the poor choice of name with their flavor “Taste the Lin-Sanity”, named after Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin. A bit clearer on the insensitivity line, as the ice cream had pieces of fortune cookie inside.
I’m not flippantly dismissing the Kowiak’s concern. In fact, I understand it all too well. When you experience a tragedy, the lens through which you see the world shifts.
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Ben & Jerry’s has a line of frozen Greek yogurt treats. Had the name “Hazed and Confused” been released under the Greek yogurt line, I could certainly imagine ill intent. But since it wasn’t, and if Ben & Jerry’s changes the name based on this pressure, where will it then draw the line?
Will angry, obese husbands arise to eliminate “Chubby Hubby?”
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I’m not flippantly dismissing the Kowiak’s concern. In fact, I understand it all too well. When you experience a tragedy, the lens through which you see the world shifts. What was once in the periphery now becomes front and center. My wife and I lost three sons in the span of less than three years. Every commercial on television, every item in the stores, every post on Facebook was littered with baby references.
We were angry. I am still angry. We flipped the channels, we avoided store aisles, we blocked Facebook feeds. Our lens made us want to force others to shift their lens as well. We couldn’t believe they couldn’t understand how incredibly hurtful these images were to those who have lost a child. It’s frustrating that other’s don’t see through the same lens, but I’ve learned I need to find a different outlet for communicating the message on a larger scale.
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Make no mistake, hazing is a vile practice that takes lives, skews psyches, and endangers the existence of Greek organizations, athletic teams, and other student organizations alike. Tomorrow, I will join young men and women on yet another campus in the United States to speak about how we can eliminate the scourge of hazing. What I will be talking are the stories like the Kowiak’s and countless others who were affected by hazing behaviors. But what I won’t be talking about is ice cream. Let’s leave Ben & Jerry out of the conversation.
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Image credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin/flickr
Hi Scott, Hank Nuwer told me about your article today. I appreciated reading your perspectives on this matter as well as the responses from Dave, Kim, and Hank. I too, want to share my condolences about the loss of your children. With regard to the issue of Ben & Jerry’s, I understand the argument you are making but have to disagree. While the name of an ice cream flavor may seem like a trivial matter, I agree with Kim Novak’s point that this is “more than a rightfully angry parent, this is about change, incremental complex change in how people… Read more »
Hi Scott, We all appreciate and commend you for the work you do with our youth. Without proper education and guidance, poor decisions in life may be made with, sometimes unexpected, negative consequences. My wife and I, disturbed by the new flavor name we saw advertised in a magazine, initially sent quite a long letter followed up with live conversations with the manager and director of Ben & Jerry’s communications department. Our letter was very factual with the intent of educating them on the social issues and dangers of hazing. It was an approach you, yourself, may use in your… Read more »
Your hurting you cause by taking to a ridiculous extream.
Hello, Scott. First, I was dismayed to read that you and your wife had lost three children. As a dad and grandfather that is unthinkable for me, and I hope you accept my condolences. On some issues I guess we agree to disagree. I sincerely believe that Ben and Jerry’s would have sent a strong message of change by agreeing to change its Hazed and Confused flavor. Thank you for the hard work you have done on the issue. (I know we as writers all like to get our facts right. So you might want to correct the spelling of… Read more »
Thank you Dave for your continued commitment to this issue & for weighing in on the B&J chatter. Thank you Scott for continuing to be a voice of change for K-12 and collegiate communities. The quote from Dave’s post, “it is always minimized by its proponents” is important, just as recognizing that the B&J Chatter is about more than a rightfully angry parent, this is about change, incremental complex change in how people see hazing, how they understand hazing and how they talk about hazing. Hank Nuwer has LONG been an advocate for us to all stop minimizing hazing and… Read more »
Kim, Great to have your voice here! As I mentioned to Dave in the previous comment, I understand and appreciate how this can be seen as a small win or a stepping stone among the larger conversation. I can imagine, though, if B&J would go ahead and change the name of the flavor. Let’s say they do, and a public statement regarding why they did so is released. Certainly, this indicates a positive message in the eyes of those involved with eradicating hazing on K-12 and collegiate campuses. What I feel it would do, though, for hazing proponents and those… Read more »
Allow me to note that it is Hank Nuwer who is helping to lead the change at Ben & Jerry’s. While this issue may indeed seem a “10” on a scale with “1” being the most important…it remains important. Along with a number of friends and colleagues (including Scott) I will be hitting the road this week to speak about hazing on campuses. And I know three things for sure about hazing: It usually begins with little things; it is always minimized by its proponents; and college students are coming to us pre-hazed and expecting to be hazed. The name… Read more »
Dave,
Thank you for your comments and feedback. I understand and appreciate your perspective, specifically in regards to hazing being minimized by proponents. My concern with this B&J issue is that the leap to the offensive nature of the flavor is quite a large one. As a result, it feels like squabbles like this dilute rather than strengthen the anti-hazing movement.
Safe travels this week! And thank you, as always, for your work!
~Scott