<P> Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends from Merrick, New York . Although Greenfield finished college, he found himself unable to make his way into medical school . Cohen dropped out of school . In 1977, Cohen and Greenfield completed a correspondence course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University's creamery. Cohen has severe anosmia, a lack of a sense of smell or taste, and so relied on "mouth feel" and texture to provide variety in his diet . This led to the company's trademark chunks being mixed in with their ice cream . On May 5, 1978, with a $12,000 investment, the two business partners opened an ice cream parlor in a renovated gas station in downtown Burlington, Vermont . In 1979, they marked their anniversary by holding the first - ever free cone day, now an international annual celebration at every Ben & Jerry's store . </P> <P> In 1980, they rented space in an old spool and bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and started packing their ice cream in pints . In 1981, the first Ben & Jerry's franchise opened on Route 7 in Shelburne, Vermont . In 1983, Ben & Jerry's ice cream was used to build "the world's largest ice cream sundae" in St. Albans, Vermont; the sundae weighed 27,102 pounds (12,293 kg). That same year, the cows on their cartons were redesigned by local artist Woody Jackson . </P> <P> In 1984, Häagen - Dazs wanted to limit distribution of Ben & Jerry's in Boston, prompting Ben & Jerry's to file suit against the parent company, Pillsbury, in its now famous "What's the Doughboy Afraid Of?" campaign . In 1987, Häagen - Dazs again tried to enforce exclusive distribution, and Ben & Jerry's filed its second lawsuit against the Pillsbury Company . </P> <P> In 1985, the Ben & Jerry's Foundation was established at the end of the year with a gift from Ben & Jerry's to fund community - oriented projects; it was then provided with 7.5% of the company's annual pre-tax profits . In 1986, Ben & Jerry's launched its "Cowmobile", a modified mobile home used to distribute free scoops of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in a unique, cross-country "marketing drive"--driven and served by Ben and Jerry themselves . The "Cowmobile" burned to the ground outside of Cleveland four months later, but there were no injuries . Ben said it looked like "the world's largest baked Alaska". </P>

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