Ben & Jerry's founders announce contest for ice cream flavors inspired by Democrats in Nov. election

The founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream – Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield – have announced a MoveOn.org contest to create a new line of ice cream flavors inspired by seven Democratic candidates in the November election.

Why are they doing this?

Their MoveOn page states:

We need a Democratic majority to check President Trump’s unrestrained power. And we also need to send progressive champions to Congress who will fix our health care system with Medicare for All, protect clean air and water, and get big money out of politics.

But we need your help! We need to come up with seven amazing ice cream flavors (and flavor names) that not only taste great but also capture the essence of what each candidate stands for. That’s a tall order, but we know that between all of us we can make it happen. We’ll select the winner and make a batch of each flavor that we’ll raffle off to support the candidates.

Cohen and Greenfield plan to make a limited, homemade batch of each flavor and raffle off the pints to supporters, Politico reported.

Politico listed the Democratic candidates (and their challengers) that the contest is promoting:

Jess King, the challenger facing Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.); Ammar Campa-Najjar, who’s running against Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.); Lauren Underwood, who’s challenging Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.); Aftab Pureval, running against Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio); J.D. Scholten, the Democrat facing King in Iowa; James Thompson, who’s running against Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.); and Stephany Rose Spaulding, who’s challenging Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.).

MoveOn.org is also sending out fundraising pitches for the contest on behalf of each candidate. The flavors will not be sold to the general public, Politico reported.

Cohen and Greenfield organized a similar effort for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) in 2016, according to the report.

How were the candidates chosen?

The candidates were chosen based on “longshots, up and comers and candidates who might not be given a chance by institutional actors,” Edward Erikson, a consultant working with Cohen and Greenfield, told Politico. “They’re all in difficult seats to win, but we want to spread out the map.”

The MoveOn page states the contest is not being run by Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., even though it involves ice cream.