Star Spangled Ice Cream was an American

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

company founded in 2003 by three conservative activists and marketed as a

politically conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

alternative to

Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream p ...

, which the founders considered to be too

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

History

In 2003, amid the beginning of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, Andrew Stein and his friends decided to create an ice cream brand in support of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. They agreed that

made good ice cream, but disagreed with the company's liberal politics, so they founded Star Spangled Ice Cream. The founders, Richard Lessner, Frank Cannon, and Andrew Stein, had no knowledge of how to make ice cream, so they contracted production to a company in

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called Moxley's. The company sold ice cream online, and the price of

dry ice Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and Sublimation (phase transition), sublimes directly from the solid state to the gas ...

to keep the product cold put the price at $66 for six pints or $76 for four quarts. The company described the price of $76 as "patriotic", and ten percent of profits went to organizations supporting the United States armed forces, including the

Navy League of the United States The Navy League of the United States, commonly referred to as the Navy League, is a national association with nearly 50,000 members who advocate for a strong, credible United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard and ...

. Star Spangled Ice Cream was based in Baltimore, Maryland. The company, like Ben & Jerry's, made use of puns in their ice cream flavor names. Examples included "Fightin' Marine Tough Cookies & Cream", "Iraqi Road", "Smaller GovernMint", "G.I. Love Chocolate", "Navy Battle Chip", "Nutty Environmentalist", and "I Hate the French Vanilla". "I Hate the French Vanilla" was later renamed to "Air Force Plane Vanilla". Star Spangled Ice Cream gave out samples at the 2004

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC ) is an annual political conference attended by Conservatism in the United States, conservative Activism, activists and officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American ...

. In 2005, the company began to sell its product in

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

stores in the mid-Atlantic United States. That same year it began to be sold in stores on some American military bases. The producer of the ice cream, Moxley's, struggled to keep up with the expansion of the business into physical locations. The company was defunct by 2009.

Reception

Reviewers at

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described the ice cream as "tooth-achingly sweet", and noted that the base ice cream was good but had a chalky texture. Taste testers assembled by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described the taste as "undistinguished", and one compared it to "the little cups of ice cream in elementary school, the kind with wooden paddles." The taste of "Smaller GovernMint" was compared to toothpaste and

Noxzema Noxzema ( ) is an American brand of skin cleanser marketed by Elida Beauty. Since 1914, it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredien ...

shaving cream. ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' criticized some of the names given to the flavors, including "Iraqi Road" and "I Hate the French Vanilla", as overtly xenophobic. Musician

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

endorsed the brand and said that he enjoyed the "Gun Nut" flavor. The company's founders said that Ben & Jerry's viewed them with contempt, although Ben & Jerry's never actually acknowledged the existence of Star Spangled Ice Cream.

References

External links

* {{official website, 1=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208055204/http://www.starspangledicecream.com/ archived at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Conservative organizations in the United States Discontinued food products Food politics Ben & Jerry's Ice cream brands 2003 establishments in Maryland Food and drink introduced in 2003 2009 disestablishments in Maryland Defunct companies based in Baltimore