Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Ava Du Vernay, Oscar-nominated director and box-office superstar, Gets Her Own Flavor of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

Oscar-nominated director Ava Du Vernay is getting her own
ice cream flavor from Ben & Jerry's.

Ava Du Vernay is already the highest-grossing Black female director in American box office history, but she may have found another way to get her work in front of even more audiences.

The "Queen Sugar" executive producer has teamed up with popular ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's for her own signature snack.

"Lights! Caramel! Action! will begin shipping across the country in January 2023.

DuVernay said she worked with the company's food scientists to create a flavor with all the ingredients she personally loves. She is hoping that the result — a mixture of vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls and gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough — will prove popular with fans and help raise money for her non-profit ARRAY Alliance.

"Ice cream is a simple joy of life. A comfort food that I've turned to on many days - making sunny ones brighter and dark ones sweeter," DuVernay said in a statement announcing the partnership. "Partnering with Ben & Jerry's, a company that I've long admired for their commitment to social justice, has been a thrill ride."

She added, "Beyond being downright delicious, proceeds from Lights! Caramel! Action! will help ARRAY Alliance further its non-profit mission of inclusion and belonging in the film and TV industries. A worthy and delicious endeavor."

Lights! Caramel! Action! is available in both ice cream and non-dairy versions.

DuVernay's mission with the Peabody Award-winning multi-platform arts and social impact collective ARRAY Alliance she founded in 2011 is to amplify and elevate the work of artists of color and women directors, create inclusive film sets, provide grants, mentorship and education for people from underrepresented communities who want to work in the film industry.

"Framing this up as a new flavor for the first Black woman to be a featured partner on our pints doesn't do Ava justice," Matthew McCarthy, Ben & Jerry's CEO, said. "We are humbled by this partnership, impressed by her work sharing not only the struggle but the joy in the justice, and we are inspired by her commitment and vision."

The full-time addition to Ben & Jerry's flavor lineup will be featured across the United States at its franchised Scoop Shops as well as on shelves in pints at a retail price of $6.49.

DuVernay is the first African American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award as a director in any feature category. She is currently writing, directing and producing the narrative film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson's bestseller "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent."

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