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.
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.
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?”
“what machine did you think they were raging against?”
The one that George Soros uses to print all those cheques, obviously.
Fair point.
I want aware of it.
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's
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.
Here’s the entire top-level heading for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry’s#Social_and_political_issues
No. I didn’t google them. I asked Lemmy….
Kinda the point of the community.
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.
What about the average consumer? You’re right about the die-hard fans.
The people who hate “woke” B&J will go buy a different dessert product owned by Unilever. Believing that B&J actually is “woke” instead of a calculated marketing campaign from Unilever is hilarious.
What down turn? Bud made more profit than average during the “boycott”
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.
They are buying their own stock back.
Sales remain 25% lower.
“Quick minute” slightly understated the gravitas of the situation.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/06/16/business/bud-light-distributor-response/index.html
It’s like canceling the McDouble and sending your business to the McChicken. McDonalds isn’t actually hurt by it.
I am confused by the analogy.
Modello took Bud Light’s top spot. The same company owns both products. You’re boycotting Pizza Hut, and instead going to Taco Bell. Same clown, different paint
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?
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 😍
Hasn’t every land been stolen from someone else ten times over since the beginning of recorded history?
I think what you say is fair if not true - one difference (and I’m sure there are more) is these weren’t lands acquired by conquest/military subjugation, but rather by agreement with the landholding populations to live in peace. What actually happened was the indigenous populations were lied to in one way or another such that the European nations never held up their side of the bargains because of ambiguity in the agreements in addition to Europeans plainly lying about what was being agreed to.
I think this is evident in the ways the Canadian Reconciliation Calls to Action use language such as “call upon the Government of Canada…to jointly develop with Aboriginal peoples a Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation…[which] would build on the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of Niagara of 1764, and reaffirm the nation-to-nation relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Crown”
Essentially these lands were never legally taken which is why the indigenous groups can/should lay claim to them. That makes this scenario different than a group being displaced by military conquest (which is technically recognized as a legal, albeit cruel, mechanism for displacing people).
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.
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.
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.
Well that’s not what they are saying. Dunno where you’re getting your data.
And why right wing? I’m talking after the lgbtq+ push back, after they refused to stand by their convictions and abandoned Mulvaney and the whole movement.
Are you cool with that?
I’m talking after the lgbtq+ push back
I don’t believe you to be honest. I think you’re just saying that now to try to save face.
And if that was what you were talking about then your post makes even less sense than I thought. Why would an obviously true statement like “The USA exists on stolen indigenous land” made by a company that everyone already knows is sorta left leaning politically (and has been saying things like that for decades) ever piss off their market of the exact type of person who would agree with a statement like that?
Check my comment history haha.
But good job avoiding everything in my comment in an attempt to avoid the subject.
You claimed it was “right wing reactionary morons”.
My point is I am talking “after the lgbtq+ push back”
Are you calling the lgbtq+ reactionary Morons?
Are you cool with how InBev has treated them?
The way I see it, this is an opportunity for the right and left to actually come together to some degree.
None of what you’re saying makes any sense. That’s why I’m not acknowledging every single talking point.
Why would the left ever be annoyed at the kind of statements Ben and Jerries made??
It’s fascinating that you’ve decided to pigeonhole consumers and their reactions into simplistic ‘left’ and ‘right’ categories. As I stated before, Bud Light faced significant backlash. However, contrary to your assertion, it wasn’t just ‘right-wing reactionary morons’ but included a broad spectrum of customers, including those from the LGBTQ+ community. You might want to look into the reactions of Mulvaney herself. Is she too a reactionary moron?
You’ve conveniently chosen to focus only on left-leaning consumers when talking about Ben and Jerry’s, but customers are not monolithic. Their preferences, beliefs, and reactions to a brand’s actions are diverse and complex. Ignoring this reality is an oversimplification at best, and at worst, an arrogant dismissal of diversity.
(Also, congratulations on learning how to edit your comments Hahah)
Pls just stop, the fancy words and walls of text won’t save you. It’s embarrassing, like a wannabe Ben Shapiro “It’s fascinating☝️🤓”
? More Reddit logic. Didn’t take long.
The backlash that Bud Light faced from LGBTQ people was not for the same thing that they faced backlash from the right for, it was because they left Dylan in the dust to fend for herself against hoards of angry reactionaries. Or in other words they pretended to be progressive and then immediately dropped their sponsor like she was mouldy apple as soon as it became even slightly inconvenient for them to keep up with that progressive facade.
They did that because their main market in the United States has always been largely conservatives. Ben and Jerries ice cream has never really been marketed towards conservatives (and also people don’t really identify with brands of ice cream like they with brands of beer), and they’ve always been very public with their political ideology. So they are a) very unlikely to face any kind of backlash for saying something progressive and b) very unlikely to retract any progressive statement/action if they were ever to receive a backlash for it because they have at least a modicum of integrity.
Cool. So InBev are filthy. Something we can all agree on.
Your point about B&J is valid. And I agree with that too.
Most brands would kill to “go down like Bud Light” considering they’re more popular than ever.
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%.
How does this help sell more ice cream?
Will B&J become the next Bud Light? Yes, someday.
Will B&J become the next Bud Light? Yes, someday.
How so?
People will get tired of the ideology pushing. All people want from B&J is ice cream not ideology.
