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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject: Ben & Jerry's sorry for Irish "Black & Tan" |
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060421/od_nm/benjerrys_dc
Ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's have apologized for causing offence by calling a new flavor "Black & Tan" -- the nickname of a notoriously violent British militia that operated during Ireland's war of independence. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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Somebody in the marketing department didn't do their research.  |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm a little puzzled why a stout by that name is OK but ice cream isn't. What am I missing? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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I'm a little puzzled why a stout by that name is OK but ice cream isn't. What am I missing?
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The stout called Black & Tan actually predates the 1920s militias, and seems to have been named after a type of dog. However, since the ice cream was named for the stout, not the militias, there shouldn't be a problem.
But of course tribalist demagogues need an issue, and the ice cream makes an easier target than the liquor. The stout has been around forever, and is probably regarded by the public as almost an institution, immune to the passing whims of the moral entrereneurs. Ben And Jerry's, by contrast, is probably viewed by most people as an upstart mickey mouse outfit, which, when ordered to jump, is likely to reply "how high?" |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| In all seriousness, I looked at the headline (didn't read the link) and assumed the objection was due to some crankiness about racism & skin colour. Again, I'm not being facetious. That's what I first suspected. Clicking the link and seeing the Dublin dateline (as opposed to NYC or DC), it became clearer. |
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gaelforce
Joined: 20 Feb 2005
Location: Bucheon
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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Really, I think that 99% of Irish people have better things to be worried about than ice cream. I haven't seen anyone threatening a boycott of the Dublin pubs for selling Black and Tans or even the ones in our own troubled North. As On The Other Hand pointed out, the objectors obviously regard Ben and Jerry's as a "soft touch," as we say at home, and thus more pliable in the face of pressure.
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I can't believe that Ben & Jerry's would be so insensitive to call an ice cream such a name and to launch it as a celebration of Irishness ... it's an insult!" wrote one blogger on www.junkfoodblog.com.
"I hope they don't try to launch it here in Ireland or I imagine they'll lose a lot of their fans."
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Ah, yes. Junkkfoodblog.com, that highly accurate barometer of Irish public opinion. 
However, on the basis of the report, it looks like Ireland has got one or two 'netizens' of its own now - God help us! |
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