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Jen Berman

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Fox School of Business

Social justice ice cream AKA “How Ben & Jerry’s has swirled social justice into its innovative business”

March 22, 2021 By Jen Berman 1 Comment

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“Last June, Ben & Jerry’s tweeted out, “The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy.” Amid a flurry of empty corporate scurrying to get out any sort of Black Lives Matter public statement, it was by far the strongest language by a brand on the issue(Beer, Fast Company).”

Ben & Jerry’s has had a long commitment to social and racial justice, and has continued to show up multidimensionally as a brand with unwavering strength and solidarity. A recent article in Fast Company on Ben & Jerry’s “social justice swirl” made me pause and continue to think about our class discussion last week on Nike and Colin Kaepernick’s work, where we talked about how Nike may have become become a north star – or perhaps a paradigm shifter – in more purposeful marketing and branding.

Undoubtedly, Ben & Jerry’s has been a pioneer and leader in corporate activism for decades, and it was interesting to take a deeper dive into their business and what’s next for them in this space (which, is essentially their brand).

Ben & Jerry’s head of global activism strategy Chris Miller says that “the company’s model of corporate activism is constantly evolving, this past year provided key lessons on where it’s headed”. I’d venture to say, that there’s probably a gazillion lessons individuals and businesses alike have uncovered in the social justice and activism space over the past year, and I’m super curious to learn and see where brands go – for Ben & Jerry’s, however, they remain steadfast and “compelled to use the privilege and power that we have as an ice cream company to support the allies and co-conspirators who are leading the fight for justice.”

Learn more here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90600409/ben-jerrys-most-innovative-companies-2021

Shall we have a pint together one day?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: activism, branding, brands, marketing, purpose, social justice

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Comments

  1. Kathryn Lund says

    April 1, 2021 at 12:26 pm

    I recall when Ben & Jerry’s was purchased by Unilever, and I thought — oh no, there goes their soul. I’m happy that I was wrong. I am impressed how the brand has stayed true to their core beliefs, and continues to raise their voice in the calls for social justice and environmental concerns. The fact that they have been doing this throughout their existence gives them so much more credibility than so many of the other companies and brands who seem to have jumped on the bandwagon in recent times. For some of those “activist-come-lately” style brands, taking a stand can be risky. For Ben & Jerry’s, it’s part of their mission. I don’t think they have any concerns about losing customers because they take a stand. They want to be on the right side of history.

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