Vermont Senator and Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has now had not one but two ice cream flavors named after him — and there are more to come.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield — who sold Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 and no longer work with the company — announced last week that they’ve concocted a new ice cream flavor for Sanders ahead of the 2020 primaries.
‘Bernie’s Back,’ which is made under the label Ben’s Best, comes three years after the pair launched a frozen treat to promote Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries.
Number two: The founders of Ben & Jerry’s have debuted a new flavor inspired by Bernie Sanders called Bernie’s Back
Limited batch: The flavor is out under their Ben’s Best line; the pair sold Ben & Jerry’s in 2000
Symbolism: It’s made with a hot cinnamon base flavor, which symbolizes ‘holding politicians’ feet to the fire’
A sequel to the Bernie’s Yearning flavor of 2016, Bernie’s Back taste different from the first tribute treat — but it’s chock full of the same symbolism.
2020: The flavors aims to drum up support for Sanders, who is running for the Democratic nomination for President
Breaking down the new pints in a video on Twitter, Cohen first introduced the Hot Cinnamon Ice Cream base, which symbolizes ‘holding politicians’ feet to the fire.’
Then there’s a buttercrunch toffee core, which Cohen crafted to look like a spine.
‘The backbone represents Bernie’s steadfast determination to un-rig our economy,’ the men explain.
Finally, there’s a big chocolate disc on top, which ‘represents all the wealth that has risen to the top 1%’ and needs to be broken into with a spoon to start eating.
‘You gotta kinda mush it around and redistribute all that wealth and put it back where it’s supposed to be down with everybody else,’ he explained.
Ta-da! Ben Cohen (left) and Jerry Greenfield (right) announced the flavor on Twitter
Not so subtle: There’s a buttercrunch toffee core, which Cohen crafted to look like a spine and represents ‘Bernie’s steadfast determination to un-rig our economy’
Redistributing the wealth: A big chocolate disc on top ‘represents all the wealth that has risen to the top 1%’ and needs to be broken into with a spoon to start eating
The catch? The ice cream is running in a very limited-edition batch of just 40 pints, so those who want to try it need to enter online by August 9 for a chance to snag one of the numbered, autographed containers.
‘We’re all in for Bernie,’ Greenfield said.
What’s more, Cohen — who, like Sanders, was born in Brooklyn but made a name for himself in Vermont — also tweeted that this isn’t the last Bernie flavor.
‘This is just the first in a full line of Bernie flavors,’ he wrote. ‘We’re going all the way this time. And when Bernie’s in the White House and I become the Minister of Ice Cream — a pint in every freezer, a sundae in every bowl. ‘
The ice cream company that Cohen founded along with Jerry Greenfield in 1978, and which the creators sold in 2000,
Flashback: Ben’s Best also put out a Bernie’s Yearning flavor in 2016
This is the second Bernie Sanders tribute flavor from the brand. In 2016, Cohen launched the Ben’s Best flavor Bernie’s Yearning, a plain mint ice cream.
This one, too, was topped with a ‘thick disk of solid chocolate’ which represented the ‘huge majority of economic gains that have gone to the top 1% since the end of the recession.’
‘Beneath it, the rest of us,’ Cohen said wrote.
‘Nothing is so unstoppable as a flavor whose time has finally come,’ he also tweeted.
Handmade: Cohen is pictured making the first small-batch Bernie dessert in his kitchen
Twins: Ben Cohen was born in Brooklyn but made his career in Vermont, just like Bernie Sanders
A Sanders representative told Politico that the Vermont senator’s presidential campaign paid for the ingredients, services, and supplies for the ice cream, while Cohen and Greenfield volunteered to make the treat in Cohen’s kitchen.
Bernie’s Yearning was available in a limited-edition batch of 40 tubs, 25 of which were donated to the Sanders campaign. They weren’t mass-produced.
Like the Bernie’s Back flavor, Bernie’s Yearning was sold under the Ben’s Best label, not Ben & Jerry’s. And Ben & Jerry’s, which is no longer owned by Cohen and Greenfield, was quick to distance itself from the new flavor.
They tweeted at the time: ‘This was created by Ben as a citizen. The company is not involved.’