Remembering 18 pop culture-inspired Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors that time forgot

By Fusion Staff  |  February 18, 2015 | 9:33pm
Latest

Last night, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon announced that a new Ben & Jerry’s flavor has been created in his honor: The Tonight Dough, which is heavy on the — you guessed it — cookie dough.

America’s favorite dessert-hawking hippies can’t resist a good pun, particularly if it draws on pop culture. That’s why Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, and Hazed & Confused number among their hall-of-fame staples. Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream has been going strong since 2007, and the company reportedly has no plans of discontinuing it now that the host has departed The Colbert Report for the Late Show.

But these are the exception, not the rule. Just as a rolling stone gathers no moss, the zeitgeist rarely stays in one place long enough for trendy new ice creams to truly take hold. (I promise this simile made a lot more sense in my head.) Here are 18 limited-edition flavors inspired by movies, TV, music, and sports that failed to stand the test of time.

Late Night Snack

If you’re wondering whether Jimmy Fallon deserves his own damn ice cream, ask yourself this: Does Jimmy Fallon deserve two damn ice creams? The Tonight Dough is actually a followup to Late Night Snack, which brought fudge-covered potato chips to your freezer section in 2011.

Neapolitan Dynamite

Ben & Jerry’s can never pass up a tasty pun. They borrowed the name of the cult favorite high school comedy to rebrand the chocolate-and-cherry flavor once known as Jerry’s Jubilee in the 2000s. We’d like to think that a ~*true*~ Napoleon Dynamite ice cream would taste of quesa-dillas and tater tots.

Willie Nelson’s Country Peach Cobbler

Willie Nelson’s peach ice cream with “cinnamon-sugar shortbread pieces” sounds like it was delicious, but in 2008, 250,000 pints were recalled because their listed ingredients didn’t include wheat — an omission that wasn’t well received by country music fans with allergies.

Festivus

This brown sugar-y ode to Seinfeld hit the shelves for the holidays in 2000 and 2001, later to be resurrected as Gingerbread Cookie and Gingersnap.

Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road

This limited-edition flavor celebrated Elton John’s first-ever performance in Vermont in 2008.

Schweddy Balls

Perma-angry conservative group One Million Moms predictably protested the release of this flavor, a reference to a double entendre made by Alec Baldwin’s character on a fake NPR food show on Saturday Night Live. It only survived one holiday season.

SNL Batches: Wayne’Swirled, Two Wild & Crazy Pies, Lazy Sunday and Gilly’s Catastrophic Crunch

These SNL batches are only sold in scoop shops, not in grocery stores. We’re crossing our fingers for the eventual release of Dick in a Pint.

Vermonty Python

If nothing else, British comedy troupe Monty Python and the Vermont-based ice cream magnates share a never-ending fascination with cows.

Ron Burgundy’s Scotchy Scotch Scotch

Sixty percent of time, Anchorman ice cream is delicious every time.

Satisfy My Bowl

Satisfy My Bowl was introduced last fall to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Bob Marley’s Legend, but sadly, it’s unavailable in the United States. We know what you’re thinking, and no, there is absolutely no weed in this ice cream.

Dave Matthews Band’s Magic Brownies

None here, either. Sorry.

The Gobfather

Leave the gun, take the nougat swirl.

Taste the Lin-Sanity

On the heels of Asian-American New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin’s meteoric rise in 2012, the Harvard Square location of Ben & Jerry’s namechecked the athletic alum with a frozen yogurt that incorporated fortune cookies. Get it? Because he’s Asian-American? As you’d expect, this didn’t go over well.

Bohemian Raspberry

In 2007, Ben & Jerry’s honored one of the best-ever Queen songs with one of their best-ever flavor titles.

Doonesberry

The Garry Trudeau political comic strip inspired the name of one of Ben & Jerry’s earliest sorbet flavors.

Bonnaroo Buzz

While we appreciate what they were going for, it’s hard to conceive of a musical festival ice cream that is not vomit-flavored. See also: Glastonberry.

Imagine Whirled Peace

This flavor honors the late John Lennon, but it’s worth noting that Paul McCartney’s Wings also earned Ben & Jerry’s recognition with their discontinued Bananas on the Rum flavor.

Liz Lemon Frozen Greek Yogurt

We like the nod to Tina Fey’s Greek heritage and her 30 Rock character’s last name, but there’s simply no way Liz Lemon would opt for frozen yogurt over full-fledged, full-fat ice cream.

Photos via Ben & Jerry’s

Molly Fitzpatrick is senior editor of Fusion’s Pop & Culture section. Her interests include movies about movies, TV shows about TV shows, and movies about TV shows, but not so much TV shows about movies.

 
Join the discussion...