From ‘Queen Sugar’ to a new sweet treat: Ava DuVernay gets her own Ben & Jerry’s flavor
Still broken up because “Queen Sugar” ended its TV run? Well, get ready to drown your sorrows in a pint of Ava DuVernay’s newest collaboration — with Ben & Jerry’s.
The company announced its newest flavor, Lights! Caramel! Action!, on Tuesday. It was “directed” by DuVernay, who becomes the first Black woman to grace a Ben & Jerry’s pint. Previous celebs enshrined on the pints include Jimmy Fallon (the Tonight Dough); Stephen Colbert (Americone Dream); Elton John (Goodbye Yellowbrickle Road); and former President Barack Obama (Yes Pecan).
And don’t forget the all-important OG celebrity flavor: Cherry Garcia, approved by music legend Jerry Garcia after a B&J’s fan suggested the flavor in 1986.
“In her directorial debut of an ice cream thriller, we present Ava DuVernay’s Lights, Caramel, Action! Guaranteed to be a hit in freezers nationwide, this flavor gives back through Ava’s ARRAY Alliance, advancing social justice through art,” the Ben & Jerry’s website says.
One opinion on the best (and worst) Ben & Jerry’s flavors
Among other goals, Array Alliance pledges to remove “the roadblocks that prevent people of color and women of all kinds from leveraging the medium of film as an instrument of social justice.”
The new flavor combines salted caramel swirl, graham cracker swirl and “gobs” of chocolate chip cookie dough, all mixed into good old vanilla ice cream — or, optionally, good old vanilla non-dairy frozen dessert, for the vegans and lactose-intolerant in the audience.
“I had the opportunity to work with food scientists to create a flavor with all the ingredients that I personally love for a cause close to my heart,” DuVernay said in a statement. “Beyond being downright delicious, proceeds from [the flavor] further its non-profit mission of inclusion and belonging in the film and TV industries. A worthy and delicious endeavor.”
Ava Duvernay, director of ‘Selma’ and ‘13th,’ just sold her three-story Midcentury home in Hollywood Hills for $2.06 million.
Lights! Caramel! Action! will be a full-time flavor, not a limited run.
“We are humbled by this partnership, impressed by her work sharing not only the struggle but the joy in the justice, and we are inspired by her commitment and vision,” Matthew McCarthy, Ben & Jerry’s chief executive, said in a statement.
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