Ben & Jerry: Unhappy Sellout Social Justice Warriors

By
Richard C. Young
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By simba kim @ Adobe Stock

The founders of Ben & Jerry’s, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, are angry that Unilever is spinning out their brand along with its other ice cream brands into a new company called the Magnum Ice Cream Company. Greenfield and Cohen are upset because they are losing their ability to use the ice cream company as a platform for their radical left-wing “social justice” agenda. This was probably an inevitable outcome of selling their brand to a big corporation like Unilever. The Wall Street Journal’s Aimee Look reports on Greenfield’s quitting of the company:

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield said he is quitting the brand after 47 years, ahead of parent company Unilever’s planned spinoff of its ice-cream business as a separate entity.

In posts on Instagram and X, Greenfield said he decided to leave Ben & Jerry’s because it was no longer allowed to stand behind social justice issues that were core to its business.

“It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he wrote in the social-media posts that were posted on co-founder Ben Cohen’s account on Greenfield’s behalf.

Unilever’s ice-cream business, the Magnum Ice Cream Company, said it was grateful for Greenfield’s role as co-founder and is dedicated to the company’s mission of product, economic and social commitments.

“We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” the company said.

Cohen has posted on X: