Ben & Jerry’s served up a heaping scoop of woke posturing, and to the surprise of no one, its fan base is melting away.
The ice cream company decided to mark the Fourth of July, the day when the rest of us celebrate our country’s independence, with this tweet:
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it.”
Perhaps the purveyors of over-priced ice cream believes that those who buy – or bought- their products share their same political sensibilities.
Did they learn nothing from Bud Light?
When the American beer company featured transgender actress and influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a campaign back in April, backlash, and a boycott, was swift .If there was any doubt that Bud Light fans weren’t progressives, sales plummeted, and Bud Light is now no longer America’s top beer. That position belongs to Modelo.
There are now similar calls for a boycott of Ben and Jerry’s (one tweet read: “Make @benndjerrys Bud Light again,”) and the stock of its parent company Unilever, dropped some $2.5B.
Good job, guys.
It’s not they first time Ben & Jerry’s dished out virtue-signaling. Remember its 2018 Pecan Resist limited flavor?
On the surface, it was just chocolate ice cream with white and dark fudge chunks, pecans, walnuts and fudge-covered almonds, but it was part of a larger agenda. “The company cannot be silent in the face of President Trump’s policies that attack and attempt to roll back decades of progress on racial and gender equity, climate change, LGBTQ rights and refugee and immigrant rights – all issues that have been at the core of the company’s social mission for 40 years,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.
There are probably some Ben and Jerry’s aficionados who like to drop a couple pints of social justice warrior in their cart. There are even those who likely felt that the purchase of Pecan Resist was a bold anti-Trump statement. Was it a coincidence that this batch contained so many nuts?
The ice cream company is also having a “glass houses” moment. As Newsweek reported, there have been suggestions that Ben & Jerry’s lead by example. Some have argued that Ben & Jerry’s Vermont headquarters is itself built on what it describes as “stolen” land of the Abenaki tribe — prompting questions as to whether it would give the property up and move elsewhere.
“What’s stopping you? Go ahead — give up all your property,” Dan Crenshaw, a GOP congressman for Texas responded to the company’s call. “It would be easy to do, so why aren’t you doing it?”
Ben & Jerry’s isn’t the only flavor in town – far from it. There are small-batch creameries making exotic (and equally pricey) concoctions, from Black Out Chocolate Cake to Boston Cream Pie. Even mainstream brands like Breyers have gotten snazzier with Caramel Apple Pie and Dulce de Leche.
When people want a scoop of delicious ice cream – and only that – there are a lot of choices.
And freedom of choice, Ben & Jerry’s, is one of the things America celebrates, on the Fourth of July and beyond.
