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Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food got me through untold breakups in college.
Drowning my sorrows in a pint was a great consolation prize for my heartbreak.
But in 2021, I soured on the brand when it announced plans to stop selling its ice cream in what it referred to as the “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Its hostility to Israeli policy grew even more poisonous after Oct. 7.
The good news?
Recent pushback by critics — and consumers — prompted B&J’s parent company, Unilever, to respond, just as other companies have been shedding their DEI and woke images.
And that’s major grounds for hope.
In 2021, co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield defended the brand’s positions on Israel in The New York Times: “The company’s stated decision,” they said, “is a rejection of Israeli policy, which perpetuates an illegal occupation that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.”
Yes, their views have always been naïve, lefty nonsense, and they’re well-known for making their political beliefs a part of their business.
In 1998, Ben & Jerry’s faced pushback when it announced it would no longer buy water from an Israeli company in the Golan Heights because of what it called an illegal occupation of the area.
In 2021, my local Kosher supermarket announced, in protest of its positions on Israel, that it would no longer carry the ice cream.
And B&J’s Kosher supervision agency debated pulling its Kosher certification.
But after Oct. 7, the board of Ben & Jerry’s actually argued that pro-Palestinian demonstrations across US college campuses play a vital role in upholding democracy.
The Vermont-based company, which sells its products at some universities, had also advocated for a lasting cease-fire in Gaza, never mind that the threat of future Oct. 7 attacks would remain.
But now Unilever, wary of its image and bottom line, has taken steps to mitigate the blowback for B&J’s appalling anti-Israel stands.
It’s now looking to sell off the ice-cream maker completely, and this month it said it would replace its CEO.
Ben & Jerry’s, in return, filed a complaint against Unilever, alleging its CEO was fired due to the brand’s activism. That’s part of a larger suit it filed in November.
B&J’s claims Unilever dismissed CEO David Stever after he pushed back against the parent corporation’s attempts to limit its political engagement.
The suit charges that Unilever censored the brand, including blocking statements supporting a detained pro-Palestinian activist and about President Donald Trump.
Unilever argues the CEO’s dismissal was within its corporate rights and was handled properly.
Though the parent company’s purchase of B&J in 2000 included provisions giving the brand’s board some leeway on its social initiatives, Unilever now seems to realize that some actions go too far.
In a 2020, Jerry Greenfield attributed the brand’s success to three factors: high-quality ice cream using natural ingredients, unusual flavors and B&J’s social activism.
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That last assertion beggars belief: How could refusing to sell a product in certain areas and alienating a massive customer base help a company gain market share?
Yes, B&J’s makes really tasty products, but not tasty enough to force millions of consumers to betray their most important beliefs.
The pushback isn’t just a good sign for my future ice-cream consumption; it’s a sign for the health of corporate America.
Businesses that prioritize their political positions (especially morally obtuse ones) over their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders will face a reckoning.
Already, many corporations have scaled back or scrapped their DEI initiatives as opposition to corporate DEI agendas has grown, particularly among conservative lawmakers and activist investors.
Firms like Disney, Walmart, Meta, Caterpillar and John Deere have ended their participation in external diversity rankings and restructured policies to focus more on performance-based initiatives rather than diversity metrics.
Across America, we’re witnessing a vibe shift.
Consumers appreciate this retreat: The brands we buy, the clothes we wear and the food we eat shouldn’t be political.
Companies are increasingly realizing that — and that their shareholders may pay a price for unpopular or controversial stands.
Bethany Mandel writes and podcasts at The Mom Wars and is a homeschooling mother of six in greater Washington, DC.