TGIF FEATURE: Can ice cream change the world? Ben & Jerry think so

Ben & Jerry's new flavor -- Empower Mint

BEN & JERRY created a new ice cream flavor to promote democracy and voting. The new flavor, launched Tuesday, May 17, is called Empower Mint, a peppermint ice cream with fudge brownies and fudge swirls.

"This flavor will benefit the (North Carolina's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), an organization dedicated to ensuring the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and eliminating racial hatred and discrimination," the company wrote on a Facebook event for the flavor's launch. 

"At its core, a true democracy should serve everyone's interests, not just the wealthy few," Ben & Jerry's posted on its website. "And the only way we can know what those interests are is by ensuring everyone can easily cast their vote and make their voice heard. Plus, getting rid of the big money that seeks to drown out the voices of the people in our elections certainly wouldn't hurt either."

This is not just a clever marketing ploy. Co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are well known for their political activism. They were recently arrested at a protest in Washington, D.C., and have been leaders in raising awareness about climate change for some time. 

This got me to thinking about some new flavors of ice cream catering to the growing AAPI market and the issues we face. We do like our sweets, don't we?

• Model Minor Tea, a green tea ice cream with swirls of banana and chunks  of coconut.

• Yellowface, lemon-flavored ice cream hidden underneath a layer of marshmallow. 

• Whitewash Tropicana, a Neopolitan-style of ube, mango and coconut ice creams. The customer would open it up and it would be plain old vanilla.

What new flavors would you suggest Ben & Jerry to make?

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