Ben and Jerry’s has given the cold shoulder to the porn industry.According to The Los Angeles Times, this past week Ben and Jerry’s filed a lawsuit against Caballero Video, a porn DVD distribution company, for the selling of “Ben and Cherry’s” porn videos. The array of video titles, as reported by CBS News, include “Boston Cream Thighs”, “Chocolate Fudge Babes”, and “Peanut Butter D-Cups.” This did not sit well with Ben and Jerry’s, and they soon decided to take legal action.
According to The Associated Press, the ice cream company filed a lawsuit on September 5th in New York City federal courts for damages, asking a judge for the removal of these videos from the market. On September 12th, Ben and Jerry’s won the lawsuit, and the North Hollywood company was forced by court order to remove all movies from distribution and destroy all copies of the X-Rated videos. It seems a bit harsh for a couple names. Ben and Jerry’s is known for their famous Vermont ice cream, which, according to The Huffington Post, has sold over 45.6 million gallons of ice cream in the past three years.
As reported by The New York Post, Ben and Jerry’s stated that the trademark for the video covers “[would be] likely to cause confusion in the minds of consumers,” and that the names were an intentional rip offs of their “Boston Cream Pie,” “Chocolate Fudge Brownie,” and “Peanut Butter Cup” flavors. I understand the issues of copyright of the name and rights of the company, but it is not so difficult to distinguish a logo containing Ben and Jerry’s signature rolling green hills from one full of naked porn stars. The porn company isn’t ripping off Ben and Jerry’s titles, but only putting their own dirty spin on them. Plus, it is definitely not the first time the porn industry has put a spin on a name to create their X-rated movies, using names like “A Tale of Two Titties” and “Forrest Hump” as raunchy spin-offs of “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Forrest Gump.”
But, this could be the first time the porn industry got their ideas from a dessert. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time Ben and Jerry’s has run into controversy issues this year. According to CNN, Ben and Jerry’s released, earlier this year, a limited edition frozen yogurt flavor sold in Boston shops called “Taste the Lin-Sanity,” named after the Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin. The dessert included fortune cookies, which were later changed to waffle cookies due to racist allegations because of the athlete’s Asian background. Ben and Jerry’s later apologized, stating they were sorry for anyone offended by the flavor and that “[their] intention was to create a flavor to honor Jeremy Lin’s accomplishments and his meteoric rise in the NBA.” Their intentions were in the right place, but their frosty treat should have been left out. The ice cream’s name could have brought Lin shame, and on the grounds that Ben and Jerry’s suing Caballero Video, Lin could have been in a position to do the same.
If Ben and Jerry’s can sue because of the possible shame a spin-off could bring to their company, then many copyrighted works might as well do the same, for their titles have also been used to create cheap puns for porn titles. At some point or another, it is possible you may have stumbled upon a punny porn title and snickered. After a while, Hollywood probably let it go. Imagine all the lawsuits that would break out if any affected film companies sued the porn industry for movie titles and “damages” those porn movies did to their studio. Let the porn industry have their kicks and giggles. It’s one of the only things they have going for them anyway.
People are not going to stop eating their ice cream because of a few pornographic movies. Alright, maybe a few up-tight people switch to Häagen-Dazs as their first pick, but the vast majority of us won’t be affected by the silly ordeal and will pick up a Ben and Jerry’s carton and spoon the next time we need a pick-me-up. Ben and Jerry’s has had enough controversies this year. They need to sit back and have a bit of Phish Food. I love Ben and Jerry’s and will continue to be a consumer of their ice cream, but you gotta laugh at yourself once in a while.