Unilever crushes dreams of woke co-founder of Ben and Jerry's



There is a battle under way over the ownership and identity of the iconic ice cream brand Ben and Jerry's — and its radical leftist founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, appear to be losing badly.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal indicated that Cohen was trying to gather investors to buy back the brand that he and Greenfield sold to Unilever 25 years ago.

This buyback initiative came just weeks after Unilever removed the company's anti-Trump CEO Dave Stever, allegedly on account of his commitment to Ben and Jerry's leftist activism and despite a letter of support from Cohen and Greenfield; after years of clashes over how the ice cream company communicates its politics; and amid Unilever's preparations to spin off its ice cream assets.

"In the year 2000, Unilever loved us for who we were," Cohen told the Journal. "Now we've gone separate ways in our relationship. We just need them to set us free."

Unilever crushed Cohen's dream this week, indicating that Ben and Jerry's is "not for sale," reported Bloomberg.

"The separation and listing of ice cream is the option that we consider maximizes shareholder value; that has not changed," Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez said on a media call.

As of July 1, Unilever ice cream will reportedly become the Magnum Ice Cream Company and be listed in the Netherlands as a separate entity.

After tolerating decades of radioactive politics, Unilever appears keen to decontaminate Ben and Jerry's.

'Many states found Unilever to be in violation of their anti-boycott, divestment, and sanctions laws.'

The ice cream company has long appeared less focused on selling its sugary dessert and more focused on selling a woke political worldview. For instance, under its previous radical leadership, the company:

  • told Americans celebrating the Fourth of July that "it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it";
  • called for the defunding of police;
  • opposed legislation banning men from women's sports, preventing teachers from grooming students behind parents' backs, keeping boys out of girls' locker rooms, and protecting children from drag shows;
  • issued misleading commentary about Kyle Rittenhouse;
  • bemoaned the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision and advocated for looser abortion laws;
  • took hard anti-Israel stances;
  • rolled out "Pecan Resist" in 2018 — a flavor that the company said "supports groups creating a more just and equitable nation for us all, and who are fighting President Trump's regressive agenda"; and
  • promoted Democratic candidates in concert with the leftist organizing outfit MoveOn Civic Action.

Ben and Jerry's still appears to be a sugary leftist front, complaining about "white people occupy[ing] a disproportionate number of positions of power in our society," championing non-straight activism, pushing climate alarmism, creating a coconut-flavored Kamala Harris ice cream, and pouring boatloads of money into radical causes. However, Unilever has apparently begun to suffer the effects of the ice cream company's activism.

Unilever noted in a March legal filing that as a result of the 2021 decision by Ben and Jerry's to halt sales of its ice cream in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, "many states found Unilever to be in violation of their anti-boycott, divestment, and sanctions laws leading to multiple lawsuits in the United States and Israel, accusations of antisemitism, severe sanctions, and the divestment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Unilever's stock."

Unilever subsequently sold the company's ice cream business in Israel to its Israeli distributor, ensuring continued sales throughout the Jewish state.

'Business is the most powerful force in our society.'

The Journal noted that this resulted in a lawsuit as well as Unilever's assertion that after two decades of supporting the brand's activism, the advocacy by Ben and Jerry's for "one-sided, highly controversial, and polarizing topics" put it, the ice cream company, and their employees at risk.

Two years after the first lawsuit, Ben and Jerry's sued Unilever again in November, alleging its parent company tried to suppress the ice cream company's efforts to publicly support Palestinians and criticize Israel's war on Hamas terrorists.

"Ben & Jerry's is a company with a soul," Cohen told the Journal. "Business is the most powerful force in our society, and for that, it has responsibility to the society."

With the legal battle still ongoing, Unilever — perhaps recognizing that businesses actually just have a responsibility to their shareholders — recently threatened to pull funding from the Ben and Jerry's Foundation, reported Reuters.

Sources said to be familiar with the matter told Reuters that Unilever has conditioned continued funding — roughly $5 million a year — on the foundation agreeing to an expedited audit of its donations.

The foundation said in a statement Tuesday, "Unilever has funded the work of the foundation as a social justice organization throughout the years since the merger without any issues being raised. We are hopeful we will have the same cooperative relationship with the Magnum Ice Cream Company, the new spin-off company for Unilever's ice cream business."

The foundation added, "We have reached out to Unilever for clarification of news reports about the Foundation’s ongoing financial support."

Fernandez said of the proposed foundation audit, "We have not made any threat," reported Bloomberg.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that these funds are used properly," said the Unilever CEO. "It has to be allocated to areas or institutions that are absolutely in line with the ones that are part of the acquisition agreement."

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Ben and Jerry's melts down over ouster of woke CEO



Iconic ice cream brand Ben and Jerry's had a meltdown after woke CEO DaveStever was reportedly "removed" from his position earlier this month in connection with the company's leftist activism.

According to amended court documents filed Tuesday, parent company Unilever ousted Stever as CEO on March 3 — without consulting the independent Ben and Jerry's board — because of "his commitment to Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission." Board chair Anuradha Mittal noted further that Stever embraced "the company’s social mission and values" and stood up to Unilever when it demanded he "oversee the dismantling of Ben & Jerry’s mission, progressive values."

Ben and Jerry's alleged in the filing that, per its merger and settlement agreement with Unilever, Unilever was required to engage in "good faith consultation" with the independent board before removing Stever. The lawsuit denied that Stever's "performance history" led to his removal, insisting that he had "outperformed Unilever's ice cream portfolio" in 2023 and 2024.

The company also claimed that Unilever attempted "to silence" other Ben and Jerry's employees about the company's "Social Mission" and "repeatedly threatened" them in this regard. Unilever even allegedly "chastised" Stever for allowing Ben and Jerry's to post political messages whipped up by members of the company and the independent board.

'Student activists have always been at the center of the fight for justice.'

The lawsuit characterized these decisions by Unilever as "suppression," "censorship," and "inappropriate muzzling." It also claimed that Unilever forbade Ben and Jerry's from speaking out on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil — the apparent terrorist sympathizer facing deportation for allegedly orchestrating violent protests at Columbia University — publicly celebrating Black History Month, expressing opposition to the second Trump administration, and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Protect the First Amendment! Free speech and peaceful protests are the lifeblood of our democracy, and student activists have always been at the center of the fight for justice. Political speech is protected by our constitution and peaceful civil disobedience should never be the basis for deportation. Protect your right to dissent and take action with the @ACLU," the company wanted to post in response to ICE arresting Khalil earlier this month.

Unilever "blocked" the effort, the lawsuit claimed.

Stever first joined Ben and Jerry's nearly 40 years ago when he began working as a tour guide in 1988. He was promoted to CEO in May 2023. Whether he has now split from the company completely is unclear.

The Ben and Jerry's ice cream brand has been known for sprinkling liberal talking points into its product messaging since it was founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Vermont in 1978. Just in the last few years, Ben and Jerry's has offered flavors such as Pecan Resist, Change the Whirled, and Kamala's Coconut Jubilee to promote leftist causes and candidates.

In fact, the independent board was established as part of the merger agreement when Unilever, based in the U.K., bought the company in 2000. The purpose of the board was to protect the ability of Ben and Jerry's to engage in overt political activism. The recent court filing suggested that Unilever has not abided by the merger agreement in that regard.

Unilever, Ben and Jerry's, and their respective attorneys did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters and the Washington Post.

Last year, Unilever announced that it would begin spinning off a number of its ice cream companies, including Ben and Jerry's.

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Customers want to give Ben & Jerry's the 'Bud Light' treatment for scorning America on Independence Day and telling it to return 'stolen indigenous land'



The woke ice cream company Ben & Jerry's accosted Americans celebrating the nation's 247th birthday online, telling them their country "exists on stolen Indigenous land" and to return it.

Patriots and other critics rejected the Vermont-headquartered company's recommended action plan and came up with a plan of their own: Give the confectioners the "Bud Light" treatment.

More sourness from the sweets company

In a July 4 social media post, Ben & Jerry's wrote, "This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it."

The corresponding action plan on the company's website claimed that "a good parade, some tasty barbecue, and a stirring fireworks display" in celebration of American independence from Great Britain were altogether problematic.

Instead of lauding the nation that gave so much to co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield and the company's current C-suite, Ben & Jerry's urged that the U.S. surrender Mount Rushmore to the Lakota Sioux.

The company reduced the personages carved into the rock — U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt — to "colonizers, four white men—two of whom enslaved people and all of whom were hostile to Indigenous people and values. ... The faces on Mount Rushmore are the faces of men who actively worked to destroy Indigenous cultures and ways of life, to deny Indigenous people their basic rights."

According to Ben & Jerry's, to surrender vast swaths of American territory now would serve to help dismantle "white supremacy and systems of oppression."

This sour note from the sweets company is hardly the first put out in recent days and years.

The company recently bemoaned the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision — which restored state rights and the power of the people as it pertains to their ability to make regional decisions about whether or not to permit the legal slaughter of the unborn — calling on activists to fight abortion bans, even those imposed at 24 weeks.

The company, which a New York Times exposé revealed used child migrant labor to process milk, often in violation of labor laws, has also taken hard anti-Israel stances, forbidding the sale of its sugary sludge in territories belonging to the Jewish state.

Besides its anti-American, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian activism and resistance to a "post-racial era," Ben & Jerry's has previously been called out for peddling lies, in particular about Kyle Rittenhouse. The ice cream brand suggested online in 2021 that the then-17-year-old who killed a violent pedophile and another radical in self-defense during a riot was a racist, incorrectly intimating his victims were black.

While Ben & Jerry's leftist activism has heretofore served to agitate, its attack on America on its birthday appeared to be the last straw for many.

Time for a 'Bud Light' treatment

Billboard Chris, the gender ideology critic whose real name is Chris Elston, tweeted in response to the company's anti-American post, "The only right thing to do is donate all of your assets and retained earnings. Shareholders will understand."

Musician Brad Skistimas of Five Times August suggested something similar, writing, "Sounds like it’s time for Ben and Jerry to donate 100% of their profits to indigenous people."

Angela McArdle, the current chair of the Libertarian National Committee, wrote, "I thought you sold ice cream. You want to evict all of your customers?"

"U stole the milk from cows to make ur ice cream checkmate," quipped Ashley St. Clair of the Babylon Bee.

Retired infantry colonel and Town Hall columnist Kurt Schlichter wrote, "My land acknowledgment is this: 'We won. Too bad.'"

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah tweeted, "@BenandJerry’s are awfully smug and lippy for a sub-brand of the massive Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever. I’m not sure they fully understand the legacy of the respective Dutch and British colonial powers."

— (@)

Lee went on to say, "Your once-good ice cream now sucks. ... You just guaranteed that I (a once-loyal customer) will never consume a single pint of it. ... When you suggest 'returning' the land on which our country has been built for centuries, what exactly do you imagine? Expungement of property rights? Repatriation of most Americans to Europe?"

After leaving the company with some penetrating questions to mull over, Lee noted, "There is such thing as a real ice cream made by true American patriots. I highly recommend it," linking to Brooker's Founding Flavors Ice Cream.

Some recognized that the company might understand a market correction better than pointed language online and reminders that the Ben & Jerry's factory is located on allegedly "stolen" land.
Country music singer John Rich suggested, "Make @Benndjerrys Bud Light again."
— (@)

Rich was referencing the overwhelming successful boycott of the Anheuser-Busch brand over its partnership with transvestic activist Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light lost nearly a quarter of its business as a result, and according to former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks, the relationship with Mulvaney cost the company $20 billion in lost marketing, reported Al.com.

Dr. Jordan Peterson similarly observed, "Looks like someone is looking hard for a @budweiser moment."

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Biden jokes about ice cream before demanding ban on 'assault weapons' after massacre: 'A whole freezer full'



President Joe Biden joked about ice cream before speaking about the shooting massacre at the Covenant School in Nashville.

Speaking at an event for women hosted by the Small Business Association, Biden joked about his penchant for ice cream and how much of the dessert he has stuffed inside a refrigerator.

"My name is Joe Biden. I'm Dr. Jill Biden’s husband," Biden said. "And I eat Jeni's ice cream, chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream.

"By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs," he added. "You think I'm kidding — I'm not."

None
— (@)

Several minutes later, Biden addressed the massacre, which he called "heartbreaking." Despite acknowledging that "there's more to learn" about the tragedy, Biden used the moment to reiterate his demand that "assault weapons" be outlawed.

"I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban," Biden said. "It's about time that we begin to make some more progress."

"We have to do more to stop gun violence; it’s ripping our communities apart — ripping the soul of this nation," he added. "And we have to do more to protect our schools, so they aren’t turned into prisons."

Later in the event, Biden returned to praising ice cream.

"The businesses represented in this room stretch across industries from restaurants to architectural firms to hardware stores, plus Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams," he said. "By the way, it is splendid. You think I'm joking. If I were allowed to take you upstairs, we got a whole freezer full of Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream.

"You know, it's pretty dull when you've been in public life as long as I have and you’re known for two things: chocolate chip ice cream and Ray-Ban sunglasses," he continued. "But what the hell, you know?"

One of Biden's signature policy goals is to reinstate the "assault weapons" ban that he helped pass in 1994 as a U.S. senator. The effectiveness of the law is widely debated. Nevertheless, Biden does not have sufficient support in Congress to pass another ban.

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‘I Heard There Was Chocolate Chip’: Biden Opens Speech With Rant About Ice Cream

'I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs'

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'More Pulitzer worthy fact checking': Reuters declares video was edited and Biden did not really walk away during wife Jill's speech after hearing ice cream truck music



Reuters has published a fact-check article about a video that indicates President Joe Biden wandered away because of an ice cream truck while first lady Jill Biden was speaking at a podium.

The outlet linked to a video in which the president walks off camera as tinkling ice cream truck music plays. Reuters also linked to an undoctored video on C-SPAN, which lo and behold, does not include the ice cream truck music — the video is from when the president and the first lady spoke at Brookland Middle School in Washington, D.C., last year.

\u201cWhen your MKUltra trigger is ice cream truck \ud83c\udfb6\u201d
— . (@.) 1658996962

"At around the 01:35 mark, Biden can be seen walking out of frame and returning a few seconds later, but no ice cream truck can be seen in the video nor can any music be heard," Reuters reported regarding the unaltered footage.

The outlet declared that the "video has been digitally edited to include ice cream truck music as U.S. President Joe Biden walked away momentarily during first lady Jill Biden's speech."

Another version of the spoof video features an ice cream truck that has been inserted into the background of the video as Biden walks away.

Biden chases Ice Cream Truck 😂 www.youtube.com

Social media users piled on Reuters for publishing the fact-check piece.

"Thanks, Reuters. I never would have realized that this joke meme wasn't real without your guidance," tweeted Mike LaChance, who writes for Legal Insurrection.

"@ReutersFacts, another joke of an organization, fact-checked a joke video. We have truly stepped into idiocracy at many levels now," someone else tweeted.

\u201c.@ReutersFacts, another joke of an organization, fact-checked a joke video. We have truly stepped into idiocracy at many levels now.\u201d
— JimTheTired (@JimTheTired) 1659374819

"The fact they thought they had to fact check this is more hilarious than the video itself," another tweet declared.

"More Pulitzer worthy fact checking," someone else tweeted.

\u201cMore Pulitzer worthy fact checking.\u201d
— Alex VanNess (@Alex VanNess) 1659374137

Left-wing figure Seth Abramson indicated that the majority of Republican voters are "stupid."

"How do I know Republicans have nothing on Biden? Because every day their pimple-faced, basement-dwelling trolls vomit up some fake media to try to establish a narrative of foolishness and incompetence that reality doesn’t bear out. If they had *anything*, they’d stick to reality," Abramson tweeted.

In another tweet, he declared that "the reason manipulated media almost always comes from the right is because far-right trolls believe Republican voters are stupid. And the reason Republican voters repeatedly *fall* for manipulated media is that the overwhelming majority are—apparently—stupid."

\u201cHow do I know Republicans have nothing on Biden? Because every day their pimple-faced, basement-dwelling trolls vomit up some fake media to try to establish a narrative of foolishness and incompetence that reality doesn\u2019t bear out. If they had *anything*, they\u2019d stick to reality.\u201d
— Seth Abramson (@Seth Abramson) 1659366463


\u201cRelated observation: the reason manipulated media almost always comes from the right is because far-right trolls believe Republican voters are stupid. And the reason Republican voters repeatedly *fall* for manipulated media is that the overwhelming majority are\u2014apparently\u2014stupid.\u201d
— Seth Abramson (@Seth Abramson) 1659366463

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Walmart yanks Juneteenth ice cream following outcry: 'They trying to give us everything but reparations'



Walmart has recalled its Juneteenth ice cream after critics spoke out against the campaign.

President Joe Biden in 2021 declared June 19 a federal holiday celebrating African-American emancipation.

What are the details?

According to reports, Walmart has recalled ice cream that was intended to honor the Juneteenth holiday.

The Walmart-brand packaging read, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation, and enduring hope." The ice cream flavor was a combination of red velvet cake and cheesecake.

One social media user wrote, "How disrespectful and greedy. Always finding a way to exploit and line your pockets."

"Can you imagine a company creating an ice cream flavor commemorating the end of the Holocaust? Companies should really think through how they recognize #Juneteenth," another user pointed out. "This is why it's important to hire diverse perspectives."

Another added, "Walmart can go to hell with that Juneteenth ice cream. Cause who is that even for? Y’all really be playing in our face led."

"What makes this soo bad and has me furious is, it's not that #Walmart is tone deaf, it's just as you said, they're trying to profit off of Black people once again, as if we don't already give them enough of our money," one commenter snapped. "Their blatant disrespect is infuriating!"

Another user stated, "So now we got Juneteenth as an official holiday, a flavor of great value ice cream, & party decorations. Chile they trying to give us everything but reparations."

Writer Michael Harriot chimed in, "I actually tried the Juneteenth ice cream. It tastes like dirty foot bottom, All Lives Matter and interracial relationships. Just kidding...I’m lactose intolerant. I don’t taste color."

What happened then?

A spokesperson for Walmart told The Hill that the company decided to cancel the campaign after backlash across social media.

“Juneteenth holiday marks a celebration of freedom and independence,” the spokesperson said. “However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”