🍦 Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder to Unilever: Let My Ice Cream Go (And Let Palestine Breathe)
Ben Cohen wants his brand back—and he’s not just fighting for flavors.
🧊 What’s going on?
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, is calling on Unilever to “set us free” after 25 rocky years. He’s trying to buy back the iconic ice cream brand he launched in 1978 with Jerry Greenfield. Why? Because Unilever, a corporate giant, keeps silencing the very activism that made Ben & Jerry’s beloved in the first place.
From suing their parent company to walking out over their CEO’s removal, the soul of Ben & Jerry’s is in crisis. At the center of it all: Palestine.
🇵🇸 The Palestine Problem (aka: Why this matters to us)
In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s said “no thanks” to selling ice cream in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. They called it a violation of their core values.
But Unilever didn’t just disagree—they overrode the board, sold the Israeli rights to a local distributor, and resumed selling ice cream across all of Israel, including occupied territory.
Ben & Jerry’s sued. And now they’re suing again.
🧾 Ben Cohen’s message is simple:
“In the year 2000, Unilever loved us for who we were. Now we’ve gone separate ways in our relationship. We just need them to set us free.”
He’s trying to gather ethical investors to buy Ben & Jerry’s back. But Unilever says no: the brand isn’t for sale.
Even worse? They’ve renamed the new ice cream spin-off “Magnum”, leaving Ben & Jerry’s buried inside a faceless conglomerate that sells war, not peace.
🧁 It’s not just ice cream.
This fight is about corporate censorship, ethical consumerism, and the ability to take a stand for Palestinian human rights—without being crushed by billion-dollar conglomerates.
Ben & Jerry’s board has tried to speak out against:
- The Gaza war
- Trump’s policies
- Police brutality
Each time, Unilever blocked or punished them.
“It would be the equivalent of buying SeaWorld,” said the board’s lawyer, “and complaining it’s too wet.”
🍨 TL;DR
Ben & Jerry’s isn’t just a dessert—it’s a decades-long brand that stood for peace, equity, and justice. Now its founders are fighting to protect that soul from being melted down by corporate greed.
Ben Cohen is 74. He’s not doing this for profit. He’s doing it because he still believes:
“Business is the most powerful force in our society—and for that, it has responsibility to society.”
📢 What You Can Do:
✅ Support brands that support Palestine (like those certified by Boycat.io)
✅ Stop buying Ben & Jerry’s until they’re freed from Unilever’s grip
✅ Amplify this story—especially among people who love ice cream and justice
✅ Join the call for companies to drop ties with apartheid and occupation
Ben & Jerry’s wanted to say no to genocide. Unilever said no to them.
Now it’s our turn to say no to Unilever. 🛑
Want help finding certified ethical alternatives?
Use the Boycat app to shop with your values—and freeze out corporate complicity. 🐱👓🍦