We All Scream...

I have some ice cream! I have some ice cream! You do not have some! Wanna lick? Psych! (Apologies to the brilliant Eddie Murphy.)

So, so much has already been written in SL media, mainstream media and on blogs about Ben & Jerry’s Island that I will attempt to avoid repeating things, but I cannot promise. I only heard about the island recently, so although I know that I am late to the table, I had some thoughts to share.

When I learned about Ben & Jerry’s Island I got totally excited!! I mean, what a potentially great hangout that would not (I assume) involve BDSM! YAY! An ice cream shop in SL! So, I put on a festive outfit (read: striped socks) and with visions of waffle cones and sprinkles in my head, I TP’d off to B&J’s to explore.

I arrived and wandered into the main building hoping that was the ice cream shop. I searched and I searched. And I learned about global warming. And I learned about recycling. And I learned how ice cream is made. And learned about the WWF. And I learned about organic farming. And I learned to hate in-your-face/shove-it-down-your-throat environmentalists. But I did not find any ice cream and no ice cream shop.

As the Technicolor setting began to make my eyes burn and water, it dawned on me that it might only be a matter of time before I found a Ben & Jerry’s Hydroponic Marijuana Farm. But, that made me hopeful. Surely, having the munchies would have driven Ben & Jerry to put up an ice cream shop on their island. (Kidding, of course!)

I wandered back outside and played the cow poo game that has been discussed so much. I mean, yuck - but $1000 Lindens is $1000 Lindens. [sarcasm] I was so happy to get another little lesson/rant about the environment when I turned them in at the end of the game.[/sarcasm]

As I was depositing my cow poo (and losing my appetite), a cow wandered close by. In SL, I love clicking on animals – because they either say something cute or let you ride them. You haven’t SLived if you haven’t ridden a calico cat around a shoe store or clicked on a bunny had it ask you if you think his fur is soft. So cute, right? I thought I would at least be able to ride the cows around the field. Nope. Come on Ben & Jerry - why can’t I ride the cows??? Is it because they are organic cows?

Rather anticlimactically, I eventually found some ice cream cones for the taking. But there was no sign. Nothing telling me which flavor I was selecting. Not even a place to sit – especially not on one of their precious cows.

Now, the flavors and unique names are some of the things that helped Ben & Jerry’s differentiate itself in the marketplace. (Come on, who doesn’t love - the name at least - Chubby Hubby?) So…..why isn’t there a peep about flavors anywhere on the island? No flavor naming contest? No specially developed SL flavor that would eventually be introduced in RL - Avatar Amaretto™? Strawberry Sim™? Prim Praline™?

There is no reason to return - especially since cheaters eventually obliterated my cow crap high score.

How did they do that?

But, I will make this plea;
Dearest Ben & Jerry,
I don’t want to visit a museum on your island. I want you to do what you do best: make ice cream. Even virtual ice cream. Give me a place to sit and enjoy ice cream with my SL friends. Because, in the end, the real draw of SL is not a fifth-grade-field-trip style museum…the real draw of SL is other people.

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