Instead of the classic “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,” Ben & Jerry’s consumers this summer can enjoy spoonfuls of equality by choosing “I Dough, I Dough.” The flavor was renamed by the company on Friday in celebration of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States.
In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that states cannot deny same-sex couples the right to marry. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy said of the plaintiffs, “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
“For us marriage equality has been one of the core issues and has been for decades. It’s an issue of equality,” Sean Greenwood, Ben & Jerry’s “Grand Poobah of PR,” told ThinkProgress. From the beginning, “when it was just Jerry and Ben running the company,” same-sex marriage was an issue of “we just want to be a company that treats people the same and treats people equally,” he added.
Ben & Jerry’s was one of the earliest companies to give employees’ partners benefits regardless of their orientation.
Waiting for this decision, Greenwood said, “We’ve been holding our breath.” Matching the jubilation outside the Supreme Court, at Ben & Jerry’s Vermont Headquarters this morning they celebrated as only the historically progressive company, now owned by the multinational corporation Unilever, could — with ice cream and rainbow-colored mimosas.
“We wanted to make as big a splash as we could,” said Greenwood. Knowing the decision would be coming down in June, the company made pint sleeves to be ready at participating Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops around the country for when the decision came out.
“I Dough, I Dough” is not Ben & Jerry’s first offering in support of marriage equality. In 2009, the company renamed “Chubby Hubby” as “Hubby Hubby” to celebrate the legalizing of gay marriage in its original home state of Vermont. In 2012, the company launched “Apple-y Ever After”in support of marriage equality in the UK. “I Dough, I Dough” itself is borrowed from an earlier Austrian campaign, according to Greenwood, and the company renamed Mint Chocolate Chunk to “EngageMint Party” in Ireland in support of the Yes Equality movement in Ireland.
Ben & Jerry’s has a history of, ahem, marrying ice cream and social consciousness. The company recently launched “Save Our Swirled,” a flavor which aims to get fans involved in climate change activism. With their “Get The Dough Out Of Politics” campaign, the company takes aim at another Supreme Court decision — Citizens United. The company is also an active voice for GMO labeling, rBGH free dairy, and Fairtrade ingredients.
When it comes to marriage equality, said Greenwood, “We feel proud to be able to do this even if it’s controversial. It’s great to be a business and stand up for what’s right.” However, though this is a “leap of progress…it’s not as if the issue is over.”
Many states still lack protections for LGBT Americans, meaning that they may face discrimination in their workplaces, in finding housing, from bullying in schools, or in finding health coverage.
While the flavor may not be available on your grocery store shelves, consumers can buy “I Dough, I Dough” all summer at participating scoop shops. Customers can also order pint sleeves from the Human Rights Campaign, where 100 percent of the purchase supports the HRC’s fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.