You would think after the glaring examples of Bud Light and Target Stores this Spring that companies would think again about wading into the woke waters of social activism. The sheer collapse of those two brands in a matter of months should lead most companies to take the easiest path, which is not to do anything.
Ben & Jerry’s is not like most companies.
The namesake partners are basically holdout hippies who frequently profess their activism for various causes and donate to their selected charities. All well and good; you go fight the good fight, Sunflower. But this do-good duo struggles to understand that you will generate reactions just as easily as you might motivate people to take up your cause.
As we covered earlier, on the 4th Of July, the company put out an anti-American screed because this is what you need to do if you are an avowed leftist – demeaning the nation and insulting patriotism is done by rote. What these waffle cone commies posted was an eye-rolling lecture about how we, as a nation, essentially stole this nation.
This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it. Learn more and take action now: https://t.co/45smaBmORH pic.twitter.com/a6qp7LXUAE
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) July 4, 2023
This declaration basically generated two responses; laughter and those stipulating that Ben & Jerry should lead by example and cede back the lands they employ for the sake of their frozen confectionery offerings. In the prepared statement from the company, they call for the Black Hills area of South Dakota, where Mount Rushmore is located, to be handed back to the Sioux Tribes.
Notably, not called to be handed back to Native Americans is any area under the purview of Ben & Jerry’s. This company Hoovers up a significant amount of acreage once you consider not just the plots where the factories operate. Still, also all of the milk-producing farmland, and it is safe to bet that at least a few of their various ice cream shops littered across the landscape surely must intrude on tribal property.
Well…the parfait pair seem to have removed the spoons from their mouths and inserted feet, as a tribe in Vermont has accepted the proposal the ice cream makers inadvertently made. Members of the Abenaki are rather keen on obtaining the land where Ben & Jerry’s headquarters is situated.
Members of an indigenous tribe who are descendants of Native Americans have reportedly expressed interest in taking back the land now occupied by popular ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's after the company made a controversial call for America to return "stolen" land.
Chief of the Nulhegan Band of The Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Don Stevens, tells Newsweek that his tribe is "always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of our lands." Still, the ice cream company has yet to contact them regarding the land its headquarters now sits on.
That is rather revealing. Once again, we see activists rise up with a loud lecture, and the very moment their words are met with reality, they scurry off in silence. In honor of this move, they should issue one of their trademarked themed flavors: It could be a lemon and shellfish-flavored dish called Ben & Jerry’s Pucker and Clam Up!
This is not the only time the entrepreneurs have created a backlash. In 2020 they issued a letter of support for Black Lives Matter protests that were seen as divisive. It also has not aged well, as in that open, they called for President Trump to disavow white supremacists (he already had), promoted the discredited 1619 Project, and defund the police.
Ben & Jerry’s 2021 also made a mess when it announced it was pulling its shops from the “occupied” West Bank in Israel. This ill-thought show of support for Palestine also meant that Palestinians would not be able to obtain their product since they have no stores in that country, only in the region where they have access. But also, the move to remove the ice cream could not be made due to existing contracts in that area made by the parent company, Unilever.
Yes, that is correct; the upright and selfless pair sold out in 2000 to the multinational corporation, and through that agreement, Ben & Jerry’s maintains a standing board, one that oversees the company’s social activist programs – and one that serves as an ongoing headache for Unilever. This past week, following the July 4 announcement, Unilever had a bit of a sell-off of its stock, resulting from calls to boycott the ice cream brand.
It will be some time before we know if they meltdown and face a Bud Light-level of market resistance, but if they want to achieve that goal, they are off to a rousing start.
Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever has lost $2.5 Billion since the ice cream brand sparked a boycott for comments made on 4th July saying that America must return “stolen Indigenous land.”
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 7, 2023
The ice cream company attacked George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln… pic.twitter.com/PukF6NF5jy