Stephen Colbert has a dream that is sticky sweet and entirely free of money in politics. He calls it his, “AmeriCone Dream,” and has teamed back up with Ben & Jerry’s to make it happen.
The team plans to relaunch a limited edition of its hit ice cream flavor “AmeriCone Dream” that displays a photo of Colbert. Except this time, the ice cream will be accompanied by a message condemning the influx of money in politics.
The ice crem flavor consists of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel. Ben & Jerry’s called it: “The sweet taste of liberty in your mouth,” in their announcement of the rerelease on Wednesday.
Ben Cohen, a campaign finance reform advocate and the co-founder of the ice-cream company (who is no longer involved in its daily operation), said he is glad the company is taking up this cause.
“What’s amazing to me is that 80 percent of the population – Democrats and Republicans – wants to get money out of politics,” Cohen said. “The only large company supporting its customers is Ben & Jerry’s. That’s absurd.”
He said that Colbert’s partnership and promotion of the cause is great because it adds humor to the issue and gets people involved who may not normally express interest in politics.
Colbert, who plays a conservative pundit on his late-night talk show The Colbert Report, suggested that he hopes that this initiative will make campaign fiance reform a bipartisan issue.
“I’m not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda,” Colbert said in a statement. “What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case.”
It’s unlikely that campaign finance reform and the reversal of the Citizens United court case that opened the door for the creation of Super PACs and what liberals refer to as money in politics is something that Republicans will agree with Democrats on, but perhaps they’ll change their mind when it comes in such a delicious package.
Correction: This piece previously incorrectly identified Americone Dream as a new flavor. It is not. It is a retired flavor that has been rereleased for this initiative.
