You could be my choco fro-yo

You could be my choco fro-yo

The busiest ice cream around

As nearly every Canadian knows by now, the Barenaked Ladies are one member short these days. And though Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream can’t fill the musical void left by Steven Page, the company was happy to try, if only for one morning. We schlepped up to the top of the CN Tower to see the remaining members of the band—vocalist Ed Robertson, drummer Tyler Stewart, bassist Jim Creeggan and keyboardist Kevin Hearn—announce that they have just partnered with the dessert giant to create a new ice cream called If I Had 1,000,000 Flavours. The name, needless to say, is a play on the BNL favourite “If I Had $1,000,000”—a song the DJ had to play twice to sync with the band’s grand entrance.

After a videotaped announcement by the ice cream makers, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, we were given samples of the vanilla and chocolate ice cream, which comes loaded with chunks of chocolate-covered almonds and toffee, peanut butter cups and white chocolate chunks. We were never quite sure what each spoonful would bring—it reminded us of drawing straws. A conversation with Margaret Eaton, the president of ABC Canada—a foundation that promotes literacy—revealed that BNL and Ben and Jerry’s are not just involved in a business partnership. For every unit of ice cream sold, the foundation will receive a share of the proceeds.

Everything seemed to fit together comfortably. We ate cool ice cream on a warm Toronto day. BNL (a highly literate band) has joined with Ben and Jerry’s (a company noted for its socially conscious projects) to help promote the worthy cause of literacy.