this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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It seems Ben and Jerry's may be next in the firing line after they made waves with a provocative 4th of July tweet claiming the US is on stolen Indigenous land. Could we witness a downturn similar to Bud Light?

Or is their irresistibly good ice cream strong enough to keep their ship afloat?

Edit: Side note - in the absence of B&J, what ice cream are you turning to? I’m in AUS. So B&J was a game changer. Not anything else like it that I’m aware of.

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[–] 1100000011110@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Ben & Jerry's has always projected a Vermonter, hippy, psuedo-leftist image as a company (despite being owned by Unilever since 2000). This tweet is perfectly in line with that image, and the die-hard B&J fans probably won't bat an eye.

[–] sarsaparilyptus@lemmy.fmhy.ml 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree, it is in line with their image, their image being "phony progressive platitudes on top of bog-standard corpro shit". It's pretty rich for B&J to be sanctimonious about stolen land when they also do a shitload of business in Russia, which is currently attempting to steal even more land and is murdering every Ukrainian civilan they possibly can in the process. They sued their own parent company for allowing a licensee to sell B&J ice cream in the West Bank—not a word now. The fact that Ben has donated over a million dollars to a political action group that sought to stop the U.S. from arming Ukraine is technically a coincidence considering he no longer works there, but their public stance is just as bad. Wouldn't be surprised if they're also super into Greenpeace and Tienanmen Square Truthing. Disingenous garbage like what this corporation peddles is why the American left has such a reputation problem.

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[–] nehzqk@lemmy.ml 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Haven’t we always known Ben & Jerry’s political stance? They’ve been pretty upfront about stuff, so I don’t think this is a surprise to anyone. I’d assume if people cared about their politics, they already wouldn’t be buying from them.

[–] TechyDad@beehaw.org 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Back in 2016, I got to taste a new flavor from Ben & Jerry's called "Feel the Bern" which showed their support for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. Anyone who gets surprised that Ben & Jerry's is political hasn't been paying attention.

Then again, some people became shocked that Rage Against The Machine was political leading to a commenter asking "what machine did you think they were raging against?"

[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

“what machine did you think they were raging against?”

The one that George Soros uses to print all those cheques, obviously.

[–] LachlanUnchained@lemmyunchained.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fair point.

I want aware of it.

[–] heartlessevil@lemmy.one 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's above the fold in their Wikipedia article, so it would appear that you didn't even google them before posting this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry%27s

The company and its two founders have also been noted for their political activism and advocacy for social justice. This includes the way their products have been manufactured, marketed, and distributed.

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[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I mean, it’s technically the truth. Unless you consider that the land was bought with a bunch of blankets. Anyway so what’s your favorite B&J flavor?

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 15 points 1 year ago

And it's not like it's a surprise that Ben & Jerry's are 'woke'. They were part of Bernie Sanders' campaign.

I’m all for raw cookie dough 😍

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[–] DuzAwe@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What down turn? Bud made more profit than average during the “boycott”

[–] _errer@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (15 children)

They slipped from #1 best selling beer for a quick minute, to be replaced by another InBev product. Good job, redcaps, you sure showed who’s boss around here.

It’s capital.

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[–] LachlanUnchained@lemmyunchained.net 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Where are you getting your numbers?

The way they treated Mulvaney, was disgusting. Trotted out to try boost profits, it backfired. Then left em in a ditch. Could let even stick to their convictions.

[–] UprisingVoltage@feddit.it 9 points 1 year ago

That's rainbow capitalism for you

[–] TechyDad@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

It was the worst possible response. Had they stuck to their guns, the right would have remained angry, but the left would have been fine. By ditching Mulvaney over the "outrage," the left became upset and the right wasn't mollified.

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[–] TheAndrewBrown@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Ben & Jerry’s has been fairly socially progressive for a while, this is not their first campaign like this and it hasn’t seemed to really affect them yet. There’s also the fact that part of Bud Light’s problem was who their average consumer was. Not every company that does something like that will get the same treatment, but when you advocate for something that most of your customers will disagree with, it’ll cause you problems.

For example, take the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks). They took a stand against the war in Iraq and made negative comments about George W. Bush. They were nowhere close to the first band/artist to this, but they saw the most backlash. But it’s because they were a country band so the majority of their fanbase supported the things the condemned.

[–] mysoulishome@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ben & Jerry’s has always been very vocal about extremely progressive politics. I’m somewhat surprised anyone doesn’t know. They label themselves hippies from Vermont and do crazy things like pay their employees a living wage and advocate for other companies to do it. Big on environmental issues too. Their politics make it taste better.

As for me, I am proud of my country and salute the flag but the land was stolen and America perpetrated a genocide on the natives…100%.

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[–] bobthened@feddit.uk 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

Bud light saw a temporary drop in revenue because a big part of their market is right wing reactionary morons. Ben and Jerries doesn’t market towards those types, they’ve always been a relatively ethical and left(ish) leaning company. Saying something like ”the United States is on stolen indigenous land” will only make B&J’s more popular.

Also let’s not forget that Bud Light is just one of the several hundred brands that are owned by Anheuser Busch, the actual drop in revenue is basically nothing to them.

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[–] Zarxrax@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

B&J is already considered a liberal company, so I doubt conservatives could boycott it. To boycott, they would have to admit that they were buying it to begin with.

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[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

While Ben and Jerry were still running the joint, they had a policy that the highest paid employee would never earn more than five times that of the lowest. B&J have always been based as fuck.

I mean, just read their Wiki article; a 50% of it is about how socially conscious they are/were as a company.

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Most brands would kill to "go down like Bud Light" considering they're more popular than ever.

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[–] br0da@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would love Ben & Jerry’s on tap. Wait what was the post about again?

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[–] moosh@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Tarharka Brother’s Ice Cream out of Baltimore is the shit. And if you’re into gelato, try Gelato Fiasco out of Maine. Both are exquisite.

[–] atp2112@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And Taharka's also a black-majority worker co-op in a city that's become something of a hotbed for that type of structure thanks in part to an anarchist bookstore paving the way.

And their Honey Graham should be classified as a controlled substance, it's that addictive.

[–] moosh@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Mm. Want me some of that graham now.

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