Ben & Jerry’s ice cream promotes itself as an activist brand that works concretely to create change in the world. The brand makes bold statements in favor of progressive causes and backs those words up with concrete action.
But there are several issues with Ben & Jerry’s activist branding below the surface of its progressive front, stemming from its acquisition by parent corporation Unilever in 2000.
While B&J’s maintains a strong stance on the necessity of acting against climate change and the essential prioritization of worker’s rights, Unilever has allegedly
a) failed to compensate workers after incidents of mercury poisoning in its non-U.S. factories and
b) been found to have purchased palm oil from a supplier implicated in both human rights violations and deforestation.
Flavor: "Palm Oil Sundae." Unilever purchases palm oil from unethical sources that engage in deforestation and human rights violations.
Flavor: "Ice Can and Oil Will." Deforestation contributes to global warming and the receding of the Arctic ice.
Flavor: "Mmmm, Mercury!" Unilever refuses to compensate its workers in Tamil Nadu, India after a mercury leak killed dozens and poisoned others.
Flavor: "Tea Leaf Toil Toffee." Unilever's products have been linked to tea worker's rights abuses.
Ben & Jerry’s has addressed the discrepancy between its brand acquisition and its sociopolitical advocacy in the past, stating that company decisions are made independently by a separate B&J’s Board of Directors with only two of ten seats held by Unilever representatives.
However, as seen by the struggle between B&J’s and Unilever over sales in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the hierarchical nature of operation as a subsidiary under a parent company still seems to be able to affect Ben and Jerry’s ability to advocate meaningfully for certain positions.
And while Ben & Jerry’s seems to be generating a brand based on ethical consumerism and concrete political activism...
...the creation of its brand in the first place is still a mechanism that furthers the vapid modern system based on brands rather than products described in No Logo, No Space –
regardless of the motives behind the marketing.
Original statement and reference links here.
