According to This news report, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is under fire from some in the irish community. Apparently, the name of the new Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is “Black and Tan”. Now, for those of you who grew up with any kind of “Irish Pub” nearby, you know that a Black and Tan is a beer drink, the classic being Bass Pale ale and Guiness. Naturally, the Ben & Jerry’s group decided to dedicate their “Black and Tan” Ice cream to the Irish, just as every American-Irish pub dedicates their Black and Tan beer to their Irish cousins.

Well, little known to myself (and probably thousands of pub owners throughout this country and others) the term Black and Tan is actually offensive to the Irish.

Huh?

Thats right, you insensitive cretins. The Black and Tans were a British Militia who were active during the Irish fight for independence back in the 1920′s. They were known for their violence and cruelty. To this day, the Black and Tans are remembered with contempt by those in the Republic of Ireland.

Normally when this sort of news story breaks, I just sigh and keep my mouth shut. But i’m Irish American, and its time to speak up.. .

Someone needs to have a big tall glass of SHUT THE FUCK UP! I’m not trying to minimize the pain of what happened nearly a centurey ago. But this was OBVIOUSLY an honest mistake. Does anyone really think that a corporation is going to deliberately piss off an entire nation out of complete callousness, and without any business justification?

It was a mistake. And it was an honest mistake. I’m not saying that just because it was Ben & Jerry’s and I like Ben & Jerry’s. I’m saying that it would make NO SENSE for them to have done it deliberately. It wasn’t done out of callous ignorance, either. With every Irish pub in the country advertising “Black and Tans”, who would have guessed it was offensive to the Irish?