Ben & Jerry’s Pints Are Ready for ‘Netflix and Chill’
Ben & Jerry’s Pints Are Ready for ‘Netflix and Chill’
(Bloomberg) -- A Netflix-branded product strikes again.
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is the latest brand to cash in on the streaming service’s wide appeal and status as a cultural touchstone.
“You’ll never want to watch Netflix without it,” Ben & Jerry’s says about the new flavor called Netflix & Chilll’d -- yes, with an extra “L” -- featuring peanut butter ice cream with sweet and salty pretzel swirls and fudge brownie bits.
The viral catchphrase “Netflix and chill” began as an innocent way of saying, “I’ve had a hard day and all I want to do this evening is put on Netflix, curl up into the fetal position and consume four straight hours of visual entertainment,” The Guardian wrote in 2015, “but has become an innuendo (and a meme) for hooking up.”
Ben & Jerry’s is no stranger to partnerships. The brand has paid tribute to Bernie Sanders, actors Will Ferrell and Tina Fey -- or her “30 Rock” incarnation, comedy writer Liz Lemon -- along with late-night host Stephen Colbert and the jam band Phish. Not to mention, of course, the Grateful Dead frontman tribute flavor, Cherry Garcia.
Netflix has partnered with another ice cream joint too. Baskin-Robbins turned one of its stores in Burbank, California, into the ice cream parlor featured in the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” With the help of a production company that also resulted in show-themed flavors at pop-up locations inculuding Dodgers Stadium, the Santa Monica Pier, the London Hotel and the “Stranger Things” premiere.
Comedian Michelle Buteau, who starred in the Netflix movie “Always Be My Maybe,” had the first ceremonial scoop.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Matthew G. Miller
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