In an effort to pressure the Australian Parliament to legalize gay marriage, Ben & Jerry’s has announced that they will ban double scoop ice creams of the same flavor until same sex couples can legally wed. The publicity campaign only applies to the 26 Ben and Jerry’s locations in Australia.
“Imagine heading down to your local Scoop Shop to order your favorite two scoops of Cookie Dough in a waffle cone,” reads a statement from the ice cream chain. “But you find out you are not allowed – Ben & Jerry’s has banned two scoops of the same flavor. You’d be furious!”
The statement continues: “But this doesn’t even begin to compare to how furious you would be if you were told you were not allowed to marry the person you love. So we are banning two scoops of the same flavor and encouraging our fans to contact their MPs to tell them that the time has come – make marriage equality legal! Love comes in all flavors!”
Ben and Jerry’s also announced plans to add comment boxes at each of their locations for Australians to send postcards to their representatives in Parliament.
Ben & Jerry’s has long been a public advocate of gay marriage. When Vermont passed legislation legalizing same sex marriage in 2009, Ben and Jerry’s renamed their “Chubby Hubby” flavor “Hubby Hubby” to commemorate the decision. They again renamed a flavor to celebrate the US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell, as their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream was renamed “I Dough, I Dough” for several months.
