Change the Whirled: How Ben & Jerry’s and Colin Kaepernick Created a Flavour

Sometimes things make perfect sense, and when they come together it’s like, what took so long? In retrospect, combining Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie to make Half Baked feels like a real no brainer, right? 

Well, we feel the same way about Change the Whirled, our new flavour partnership with Colin Kaepernick to benefit Know Your Rights Camp. We both care deeply about and focus much of our time and energy on advancing issues of social and racial justice. We both think ice cream creates joy and is a great way to bring people together. And we both are clearly talented enough to start at quarterback right this second for any professional football team.  

OK, two out of three ain’t bad. But HOW did the partnership happen? Let’s get to it. 

Way Back When

No surprise, we’ve known about and admired Colin Kaepernick for years. First it was because of his skills and leadership on the football field. And then it was because of his efforts to use his position and his voice to protest police violence, systemic racism, and white supremacy. He sacrificed his career just so that he could speak up for and stand with people who’ve been systematically oppressed. That kind of courage is uncommon—and desperately needed.  

We first approached him in 2018 to see if we could partner with Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC)—the organisation he developed to empower and educate a new generation of Black and Brown youth—through our limited release Pecan Resist flavour. We were using Pecan Resist to help raise funds for a number of crucial racial and social justice organisations and we wanted KYRC on that list. Unfortunately, the timing just didn’t work out. 

But we didn’t give up! In the spring of 2020, as the pandemic began hitting our country hard—Black, Brown, and indigenous communities hardest of all—we made a donation to KYRC so that they could amplify their COVID-19 relief work. With the site-based/physical camps on hold, KYRC expanded its efforts, using its established partnerships in frontline communities to quickly get help to people and organisations that needed it most.

That renewed connection got everyone thinking of new ways to work together, and the more we talked, the more excited we got. 

Changing the World

Now here we are, six months later, with a brand-new full-time flavour, Change the Whirled. It’s vegan, because Kaepernick is a committed vegan, and it’s delicious, because of course! But the sweetest part is that all of his proceeds from the sales of the flavour will go right to KYRC, where that money will help the organisation expand its outreach to Black and Brown youth all over the country. KYRC is all about helping youth see and understand their own beauty and power, while working to dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy. 

We’re honoured to be partnering with Colin Kaepernick in this movement to change the world, and we look forward to working together in the fight for justice and racial equity for a long time to come.