Free Republic

For an ice cream business, Ben & Jerry’s political views are anything but vanilla. Since its first pint in 1978, the brand has become synonymous with hard-core progressivism — often putting them crosswise with Americans, who’ve been turned off by their decades of in-your-face political extremism. But, in a move that proves even the unapologetic leftists aren’t immune from the current crusade for corporate neutrality, “Vermont’s finest” just got a taste of the backlash. Dave Stever hadn’t been on the job long. The latest victim of America’s consumer activists was hired in 2023, a month after Dylan Mulvaney made Bud...

Ben & Jerry's accused its parent company, Unilever, of deciding to oust the ice cream maker's chief executive Dave Stever because he let it speak out on social policy issues, escalating a battle over the subsidiary's independence. In a Tuesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Ben & Jerry's said Unilever advised on March 3 it was "removing and replacing" Stever without the required approval from its board, after repeatedly threatening personnel if they did not comply with the parent's "efforts to silence the social mission." It said this violated an agreement the companies signed in 2000 when London-based Unilever...

Ben & Jerry’s has said parent firm Unilever has sacked its chief executive amid rows over the ice cream brand’s political activism. The US brand said in a court filing that David Stever, who led the firm for almost two years, was removed from his post early this month. Ben & Jerry’s alleged in a filing to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that Unilever, the UK-based consumer giant, wanted to stop the boss making political statements.

Citing years of discord with its corporate parent, Unilever, over the brand's political stances, particularly concerning Israel, Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are reportedly exploring the possibility of buying back their iconic ice cream company. Bloomberg reported that the pair have discussed a potential deal, which could involve a multi-billion dollar offer. Cohen and Greenfield originally sold Ben & Jerry's to Unilever, the multinational consumer goods giant, in 2000 for $326 million. However, in recent years, friction has grown between the ice cream maker and its parent company, primarily fueled by Ben & Jerry's outspoken views...

Leftist ice cream company Ben and Jerry's is working to organize a direct action "against fascism" to oppose President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. The "People's March" will take place on January 18 in Washington, DC, as well as other locations across the country. The ice cream shop sent a newsletter encouraging customers to protest and "dissent." "Power to the people! On January 18, we're joining the People's March in Washington, DC (and beyond!) to send an urgent message to the incoming administration: You work for the people, and we're here to hold you accountable," Ben and Jerry's wrote. "Together, we will...

An Indigenous tribe descended from the Native American nation that originally controlled the land in Vermont the Ben & Jerry's headquarters is located on would be interested in taking it back, its chief has said, after the company publicly called for "stolen" lands to be returned.Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of The Coosuk Abenaki Nation—one of four descended from the Abenaki that are recognized in Vermont—told Newsweek it was "always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of our lands," but that the company had yet to approach them.It comes after the ice cream company was questioned as to when...

Ben & Jerry’s has called on the US to give back “stolen Indigenous land” including Mount Rushmore — and now a Native American chief in Vermont said he’d like to talk about the land that’s under the ice cream maker’s headquarters. The “Chunky Monkey” maker — which previously has waded into controversies around Israel and Palestine — divided customers this week with a July 4 tweet that said: “The United States was founded on stolen indigenous land. This Fourth of July, let’s commit to returning it.” Ben & Jerry’s added that the US should “start with Mount Rushmore,” writing, “The...

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem laid into uber-woke ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's over the company's infamous July 4th tweet in which it called for Mount Rushmore to be returned to Native Americans. Noem, a Republican, called the Ben & Jerry's bosses a 'bunch of liberal Vermont businessmen' who 'haven't studied our history' and think that they 'know everything about this country,' during an interview with Fox News on Thursday. The governor went on to call Mount Rushmore 'the greatest symbol of our freedom.' Since sending out the message on Tuesday, Unilever, which has owned Ben & Jerry's since...

Ben & Jerry’s parent company has lost roughly $2.5 billion in market cap amid calls to boycott the Vermont-based ice cream maker over a July 4 tweet condemning the US for existing on “stolen Indigenous land.” Shares of Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multinational firm, slid as much as 1% at Thursday’s opening bell after closing down .5% the previous day. The company’s stock price has fallen to roughly $51 after closing at $52.28 during Monday’s shortened trading — and the day before Ben & Jerry’s posted its unpatriotic tweet. The result has seen its market cap drop to $131 billion from...

Unilever is a £100 billion company, one of the biggest beasts on the London stock market ... But have its bosses gone off their trolley in their mania for 'woke' values? Terry Smith, a leading fund manager and long-term shareholder in Unilever, thinks so. He used his annual letter to his own investors as the forum for an extraordinary broadside at the company's top executives, accusing them of having 'lost the plot'. ... Critics have been uneasy for several years about Unilever's politically correct antics. At times, its posturing would have seemed more at home in an undergraduate common room...

Ice cream company Ben & Jerry's sparked outrage with a July 4th tweet calling for the United States to return 'stolen indigenous land' starting with giving Mount Rushmore back to the Lakota Sioux tribe. The company, which was founded by longtime Bernie Sanders allies Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenwood but has since been sold to British multinational Unilever, tweeted the message to its 494,000 followers. 'This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,' the company's official account wrote. Outrage was swift on social media following the...

Ben & Jerry's is suing its parent company in an attempt to cancel the sale of its business in Israel to a local partner that would continue to distribute its products in the West Bank. The ice cream maker filed a complaint in the US District Court in New York, where it sought an injunction against Unilever (UL) "to protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry's has spent decades building." Ben & Jerry's has been doing business in Israel since 1987, but in recent years it had come under pressure for selling in West Bank settlements, considered illegal...

The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation steered more than $100,000 to a charity run by its own president, in the second case of a sitting board member’s nonprofit group benefiting from the foundation’s grants. Social Ventures Inc., a charity run by Ben & Jerry’s board member Jeff Furman, raked in around $118,000 from the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation between 2016 and 2020, according to financial disclosure records. During this time, Furman served as president of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation from 2018 to 2020 and as treasurer in 2016 and 2017. He was also a member of Ben & Jerry’s corporate...

Unilever distances itself from BDS, announces new deal to allow sale of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to Israelis in Judea and Samaria. British consumer goods giant Unilever announced Wednesday the end of an anti-Israel ice cream boycott that drew heavy criticism, triggered sanctions by some US states, and even provoked a lawsuit.

Anuradha Mittal, the head of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors and vice president of Ben & Jerry’s Foundation Inc., won this year’s Antisemite of the Year competition, a project of the watchdog StopAntisemitism. “There must be consequences for those who spew hatred and bigotry against the Jewish people and nation,” said StopAntisemitism founder and Executive Director Liora Rez. “Being a finalist in this annual competition is one of those consequences.” Mittal spearheaded Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling its ice cream to Jews living in various parts of Israel, a decision that StopAntisemitism said was “clearly not made...

Ben & Jerry’s is very proud of its hard-left stance on any given subject but now its latest virtue signal has resulted in some serious financial setbacks.As RedState reported back in July, the ice cream company decided it would no longer do business in what it called “Occupied Palestinian Territory” or as it’s more commonly known, “Israel.” The move was supposed to signal the company’s dedication to protesting in favor of the oppressed but behind the scenes, their Board chair was actually signaling their support for the terrorist group Hezbollah.Not long after, states began looking into divesting from Ben &...

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has put Ben & Jerry’s and its British manufacturer Unilever on a state watch list for its decision to stop the sale of its products in “disputed territories” in and around Israel. The move to take a pro-Palestinian stance led DeSantis to send a letter on Thursday to the State Board of Administration to ask it to “immediately place Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever on the Continued Examination Companies that Boycott Israel List.” The list is part of a state law passed in 2016 that gives companies 90 days to “cease the boycott of Israel...

On Monday morning, July 19, 2021, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream posted a statement on their website announcing that their ice cream would no longer be sold in the “occupied palestinian territory” or OPT. This was a shock, for many, for a number of reasons, first among them being that people think of Ben and Jerry’s as a Jewish business, since, after all, its founders were Jewish. Only after careful consideration did people put two and two together, realizing that Ben & Jerry’s was bought, sometime ago, by Unilever, a Britain-based conglomerate. BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM The first error,...

Corporate America was approvingly woke when leftist Antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists rioted for several months. But businesses feign righteous indignation when people from the other side of the political aisle decide to engage in the same dangerous tactics for a day. Many companies, like Ben & Jerry’s, Chevron, The Coca-Cola Company and The Walt Disney Company, took to Twitter to express their “outrage” at the events that transpired on Capitol Hill Jan. 6. This newfound outrage begs the question: Where was all this holy corporate fury when areas in cities ranging from New York City to Seattle...

“Sidelined NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is getting his own ice cream flavor courtesy of Ben & Jerry's," wrote CNN this week. "The company said it created the flavor to celebrate 'Kaepernick's courageous work to confront systemic oppression and to stop police violence against Black and Brown people.'" In 2016, Kaepernick's claim to fame was when he said, "I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. There is police brutality. People of color have been targeted by police…There’s people being murdered unjustly and not being held accountable.” While proclaiming the sentiments above, which earned him Ben...