Take that, Ben and Jerry

Alex Johnson Reporter • Profile

Quite likely, back in the spring of 2003, as the United States was going to war in Iraq and President Bush was very popular and three politically connected friends launched the Star Spangled Ice Cream Co. as the conservative alternative to Ben & Jerry’s (with flavors like Cherry Falwell and Gun Nut), you probably thought to yourself, “Well, there’s a political stunt that won’t survive if Bush’s numbers go in the tank.”

Good thing you didn’t put money on that bet. You would have lost.

It’s nearly three years later, and approval of Bush and his handling of the war hovers around 40 percent. But Star Spangled Ice Cream (“The Sweet Taste of Freedom”) is still going strong.

“We don’t see any slowdown in growth,” said Richard Lessner, the company’s vice president, who said there was no discernible correlation between the popularity of conservative policies and the popularity of conservative ice cream.

In fact, the company, based in Alexandria, Va., is expanding from its thriving Web-only distribution into retail stores. It just recently worked out a deal to put its ice cream in several hundred 7-Elevens in the mid-Atlantic region, and it’s gotten a warm reception in Navy base exchanges, where it expects to expand its presence.

Birth of a notion
It’s a story Lessner has recounted many times by now, but he is happy to repeat it: how he and two old friends were agreeing that Ben & Jerry’s made terrific ice cream but how they couldn’t stomach its liberal politics. So they pooled some capital and started their own.

Message treats Star Spangled Ice Cream Co’s current flavors: — Air Force “Plane” Vanilla — Fightin’ Marine Tough Cookies & Cream — G.I. Love Chocolate — Iraqi Road — Navy BattleCHIP — Smaller GovernMINT — Gun Nut — I Hate The French Vanilla — Nutty Environmentalist In the works: — Cookie Commando

Like Ben & Jerry’s, they sell their punningly named product in bright, whimsical cartons. Ben & Jerry’s sells Cherry Garcia; Star Spangled used to sell Cherry Falwell. Ben & Jerry’s sells Chunky Monkey and Chubby Hubby. Star Spangled sells Nutty Environmentalist and I Hate the French Vanilla.

Like Ben & Jerry’s, they give a good chunk of their profits to charities and congenial political causes. Ben & Jerry’s gives to groups like the Environmental Health Alliance, Mothers for Peace, Green Worker Cooperatives and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. Star Spangled gives to the Navy League, the Oliver North/Sean Hannity Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, the Gun Owners Foundation Gun Safety Project (hard-right hard rocker Ted Nugent, a fan, endorses Gun Nut), the USO and numerous other military charities.

So what do the folks at Ben & Jerry’s think of the competition? They didn’t reply to a request for comment — in fact, they’ve never commented about Star Spangled.

“They usually sneer at us,” Lessner said. “Truthfully, they’re a huge company. They’re a multinational, owned by Lever, out of Belgium, and we’re just three guys with an idea.”

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