BU Students Promote New Ben & Jerry’s Treat Supporting Families with Autistic Children
COM’s PR Lab helps noted ice cream company market a new limited edition waffle cone
Ooooh Yeah by Landon, a waffle cone named by an autistic child and being promoted with the help of BU students, is available in select Ben & Jerry’s stores through the end of May. Photo courtesy of Luiza Loyo (COM’26)
BU Students Promote New Ben & Jerry’s Treat Supporting Families with Autistic Children
COM’s PR Lab helps noted ice cream company market a new limited edition waffle cone
Consider the photo atop this story as our early treat for the coming dog days of summer. If it makes you hungry, it’s available throughout May at a Ben & Jerry’s shop near you. Boston University students had a hand in launching this limited-edition waffle cone, in a project benefiting both ice cream lovers and families with autistic children.
The backstory: for 10 years, PRLab, the College of Communication’s student-run public relations agency, has partnered with the famous, and famously socially conscious, ice cream company, based in Waterbury, Vt. In April, to mark Autism Awareness Month, Armani Thao, chief marketing officer of Boston restaurants operator Notoro Hospitality Group, collaborated with Ben & Jerry’s on a new ice cream concoction and asked his autistic nephew, Landon, to help. “Ooooh yeah,” came the happy response, which christened the new product that Thao, the PRLab (housed at the College of Communication), Ben and Jerry’s, and nonprofit Autism Eats created: Ooooh Yeah by Landon.
The waffle cone comes with a scoop of Marshmallow Sky and UltraViolet ice cream, whipped cream, caramel sauce, and blue sprinkles. (For those not in the know, Marshmallow Sky combines marshmallow ice cream, marshmallow swirls, and two types of chocolate chip cookie dough. UltraViolet is vanilla ice cream with marshmallow swirls, gluten-free chocolate cookies, and fudge flakes.) The blue of the ice cream and sprinkles reflects Autism Awareness Month’s “Light It Up Blue” campaign, which encourages illuminating public spaces and homes with light of that color. Autism Eats, which arranges dinners in restaurants for families with autistic children, receives a share of the sales proceeds.
The decade-old BU/Ben & Jerry’s collaboration started when the PRLab broached the idea of using students’ services with the company, says KimVy Nguyen, Ben & Jerry’s director of catering and events. “We had success every semester that we stayed on,” she says. “We love to give back and mentor young folks at the same time. It’s the perfect partnership.”
Luiza Loyo (COM’26), a PRLab account executive who worked on the Oooh Yeah by Landon project, talked to BU Today about the experience.
Q&A
with Luiza Loyo (COM’26)
BU Today: Will Ooooh Yeah by Landon be sold in just select Ben & Jerry’s stores? Any close to BU?
Loyo: Yes. The limited-edition item will now be available in stores through May 31. You can find it in the following shops: Newbury Street, Prudential Center, Fenway, Seaport, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Watertown (Arsenal Yards), Hingham (Derby Street), and Cranston, R.I. (Garden City Center). The closest one to the BU campus is the Fenway location.
It’s so cool to see how the products and services you’re promoting can genuinely bring people joy. And with Ben & Jerry’s social impact work, you can actually see the positive difference your efforts make.
BU Today: What was PRLab’s role in promoting the cone and the strategy for donations to Autism Eats?
Choosing the name, flavors, and overall look were mostly Armani’s ideas. He drew inspiration from his work with Autism Eats and his personal connection to his nephew Landon, who is on the spectrum. The cone creation embodies [autism awareness] through its name, picked by Landon, and the colors used for it.
As for the PRLab team, our main role was promoting the item. We designed the flyer that announced the collaboration, which was shared on social media and is now printed in all [Ben & Jerry’s] store locations. We also organized a content day at the Watertown store with Armani, Landon, and their family to capture photos and videos for social media. On top of that, we attended the latest Autism Eats event at John Brewers Tavern in Waltham, Mass., where we created more content and highlighted Ben & Jerry’s involvement.
We also handled media outreach—securing coverage, coordinating with reporters, and helping connect them with the right people for interviews on site. Overall, our focus was on content creation, social media promotion, and outreach to local press. The strategy for the donations was brainstormed by the Ben & Jerry’s team, which has been partnering with local influencers to help local nonprofit organizations for a while now.
BU Today: Has your work with the PRLab, and on this specific project, influenced your career plans for when you graduate?
Definitely. Working with Ben & Jerry’s has been such a rewarding experience—it’s really confirmed my interest in doing marketing and PR for brands that are consumer-focused. It’s so cool to see how the products and services you’re promoting can genuinely bring people joy. And with Ben & Jerry’s social impact work, you can actually see the positive difference your efforts make. I’ve realized that I really love connecting with people through the brands and things they care about, and I’m especially drawn to PR that feels personal and human in that way.
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