Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders speaks from an ice cream podium and Twitter erupts [View all]beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)123. No I'm laughing at the characterization of Ben and Jerry as "corporatists" who sold out.
When I did a search for your claim all that came up were links to right wing and far left websites. I've never actually seen a liberal call them corporatists. The idea is hilarious.
How could I have missed that when I posted several articles about the purchase? Did you read any of the posts in this thread?
Here's just two of the articles posted:
Reasons To Love Ben & Jerrys That Have Nothing To Do With Ice Cream
By Catherine Taibi
1. Their starting salary is double the minimum wage.
An entry-level Ben & Jerrys worker earns $15.97 per hour, a company spokeswoman told The Huffington Post in an email. Thats roughly double the federal minimum wage. According to a statement on the companys website, their starting salary is based on the actual cost of living in Vermont.
Were speechless.
2. They help put the unemployed to work.
All of the brownies that are used to make Ben & Jerrys Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Half Baked ice creams are baked at Greyston Bakery, a New York enterprise dedicated to providing jobs for the unemployed, a Ben & Jerrys spokeswoman told HuffPost.
3. Community service is a part of the companys mission statement.
Our community-conscious commitment isnt an add-on: its built right into our Company Mission, Ben & Jerrys states on its website, and they arent kidding. Doing everything from cleaning up rivers and beaches, to helping the homeless, giving grants to grassroots organizations, raising money for homeless animals, and volunteering at St. Judes Childrens Ranch, it seems the company does just as much work in the community as it does in the ice cream factory.
More:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3726083
By Catherine Taibi
1. Their starting salary is double the minimum wage.
An entry-level Ben & Jerrys worker earns $15.97 per hour, a company spokeswoman told The Huffington Post in an email. Thats roughly double the federal minimum wage. According to a statement on the companys website, their starting salary is based on the actual cost of living in Vermont.
Were speechless.
2. They help put the unemployed to work.
All of the brownies that are used to make Ben & Jerrys Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Half Baked ice creams are baked at Greyston Bakery, a New York enterprise dedicated to providing jobs for the unemployed, a Ben & Jerrys spokeswoman told HuffPost.
3. Community service is a part of the companys mission statement.
Our community-conscious commitment isnt an add-on: its built right into our Company Mission, Ben & Jerrys states on its website, and they arent kidding. Doing everything from cleaning up rivers and beaches, to helping the homeless, giving grants to grassroots organizations, raising money for homeless animals, and volunteering at St. Judes Childrens Ranch, it seems the company does just as much work in the community as it does in the ice cream factory.
More:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3726083
Sold up but not sold out, Ben and Jerry are still the poster boys for fair trade
Vermont's finest double discuss American pie, greenwash and giving Unilever some sticky moments
Ben Cohen, one half of Ben & Jerry's, is recalling the time he got in trouble with the bosses at Unilever, which bought the ice-cream maker in 2000.
Coca-Cola had just taken a stake in Innocent drinks, a small British maker of smoothies with a reputation for being a socially responsible business. A British reporter called to get Cohen's opinion. He, after all, had a similar experience. Ben & Jerry's, which had been founded in the liberal US state of Vermont in the 1970s, was the prototype hippy business-with-a-conscience, promoting liberal causes on the lids of its tubs, giving a percentage of its profits to charity and having a rule that no executive would earn more than five times the lowest-paid worker. Unilever, by contrast, could be a synonym for the faceless multinational, bestriding the globe, selling detergents and cleaning products.
"So the BBC called me up and said 'you have been in a somewhat similar situation; you were a socially responsible little business, you got bought by some big giant, you know, what do you think?'" he recalls.
"I said, 'you know, it doesn't sound good to me' I think that if you get bought by a company that doesn't really share the same values, it is hard to have your values continue and then I suggested " he says, starting to laugh, "that it would be good for Unilever to abide by their agreements and they didn't like that." The laughs get louder.
"You know," adds Jerry Greenfield, his co-founder in the business, "we have these annual franchise meetings every year, so it's a gathering in January, we have all the franchise shops of Ben & Jerry's around the world and the head of the franchise department always tries to sit down with Ben and me before the meeting, to find out what Ben is going to talk about. And he never tells him, because he doesn't know till like 10 minutes before anyway, but their people are always a little nervous, always a little on edge about what Ben is going to talk about."
The pair, raised on Long Island, New York, and both 59, were in London to promote the announcement that Ben & Jerry's planned to take all the ingredients in its ice cream from Fairtrade sources by 2013. Walking into the room to meet them, they bellow their names in turn "Ben", "Jerry", and offer a firm handshake, as though they long ago dispensed with the need of a surname.
Both wear their liberal views on their sleeves. But on the evidence of an hour-long meeting, Greenfield is the more emollient; Cohen, the sharper-edged, less predictable of the two, swallowing half-sneers and chuckles of disbelief as he touches on subjects ranging from the US military budget to Wal-Mart and the relationship with Unilever, which he describes as a "forced marriage".
***
Even so, Cohen says he is more convinced than ever that business can be a force for good. "If there is any hope for our countries and society in general, it is through business. Business has risen to this level of the most powerful force in society. I mean it used to be that the most powerful forces in society were religion and then nation states and the purpose of those two entities was to support the common good, and maybe they didn't do everything exactly right, but now those two are subservient to business."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/04/ben-jerrys-fairtrade-ethical-business
Vermont's finest double discuss American pie, greenwash and giving Unilever some sticky moments
Ben Cohen, one half of Ben & Jerry's, is recalling the time he got in trouble with the bosses at Unilever, which bought the ice-cream maker in 2000.
Coca-Cola had just taken a stake in Innocent drinks, a small British maker of smoothies with a reputation for being a socially responsible business. A British reporter called to get Cohen's opinion. He, after all, had a similar experience. Ben & Jerry's, which had been founded in the liberal US state of Vermont in the 1970s, was the prototype hippy business-with-a-conscience, promoting liberal causes on the lids of its tubs, giving a percentage of its profits to charity and having a rule that no executive would earn more than five times the lowest-paid worker. Unilever, by contrast, could be a synonym for the faceless multinational, bestriding the globe, selling detergents and cleaning products.
"So the BBC called me up and said 'you have been in a somewhat similar situation; you were a socially responsible little business, you got bought by some big giant, you know, what do you think?'" he recalls.
"I said, 'you know, it doesn't sound good to me' I think that if you get bought by a company that doesn't really share the same values, it is hard to have your values continue and then I suggested " he says, starting to laugh, "that it would be good for Unilever to abide by their agreements and they didn't like that." The laughs get louder.
"You know," adds Jerry Greenfield, his co-founder in the business, "we have these annual franchise meetings every year, so it's a gathering in January, we have all the franchise shops of Ben & Jerry's around the world and the head of the franchise department always tries to sit down with Ben and me before the meeting, to find out what Ben is going to talk about. And he never tells him, because he doesn't know till like 10 minutes before anyway, but their people are always a little nervous, always a little on edge about what Ben is going to talk about."
The pair, raised on Long Island, New York, and both 59, were in London to promote the announcement that Ben & Jerry's planned to take all the ingredients in its ice cream from Fairtrade sources by 2013. Walking into the room to meet them, they bellow their names in turn "Ben", "Jerry", and offer a firm handshake, as though they long ago dispensed with the need of a surname.
Both wear their liberal views on their sleeves. But on the evidence of an hour-long meeting, Greenfield is the more emollient; Cohen, the sharper-edged, less predictable of the two, swallowing half-sneers and chuckles of disbelief as he touches on subjects ranging from the US military budget to Wal-Mart and the relationship with Unilever, which he describes as a "forced marriage".
***
Even so, Cohen says he is more convinced than ever that business can be a force for good. "If there is any hope for our countries and society in general, it is through business. Business has risen to this level of the most powerful force in society. I mean it used to be that the most powerful forces in society were religion and then nation states and the purpose of those two entities was to support the common good, and maybe they didn't do everything exactly right, but now those two are subservient to business."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/04/ben-jerrys-fairtrade-ethical-business
Ben and Jerry's is NOT Unilever, it's a progressive company that hasn't forgotten its roots or its commitment to progressive causes. If they had 'sold out' they would pay their workers minimum wage, scrap their mission statement and put profit over people. If Ben and Jerry were corporatist sellouts they wouldn't have created a separate board of directors or be involved with the direction of the company.
The right loves to point to Ben and Jerry's as an example of 'liberal hypocrisy' and squawk about how they 'sold out' but then again they also bashed Al Gore for having a big house and constantly vilify other liberals who don't live like paupers. According to the right and the far left if we're not true socialists we have no right to criticize greedy corporations.
I've never heard that here before so I thought you were joking.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
166 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Unilever and F-16s are funny enough without bringing Trumps cabinet into it...
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#16
Except the podium doesn't say Unilever or Lockheed Martin. It says Ben and Jerry's.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#18
come on, Ben And Jerry's? You have to admit that's pretty ridiculous to see irony there. And they
JCanete
Apr 2017
#19
"everyone assumes it's a homespun thing and not connected- god forbid!- to a corporation!"
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#25
Yeah, that happens. Ben and Jerry's has obviously maintained their voice and personality. And
JCanete
Apr 2017
#27
Exactly. Ben and Jerry took plenty of heat from the right for their criticism of Citizen's United.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#34
Sold up but not sold out, Ben and Jerry are still the poster boys for fair trade:
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#134
At least you admit that words mean things. Like Bernie's moral war on corporations.
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#166
Yeah, we've been hearing for years that if you take corporate money from or pal around with
betsuni
Apr 2017
#29
that is not what you've been hearing for years, unless you're talking about your own echo-chamber
JCanete
Apr 2017
#138
okay, so you never were interested in backing up your assertion. Just throw shit out there then.
JCanete
Apr 2017
#142
Ben and Jerry are no longer a "company", they're a division of a European conglomerate.
George II
Apr 2017
#133
Unless they've redefined the word 'company' Ben and Jerry's still fits the definition.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#135
Before the 'Ben and Jerry's sold out to an EVIL corporation' talking points start flying:
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#12
Well thank god theyre not "establishment" like Planned Parenthood or Naral, LOL
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#21
Well Ben and Jerry's certainly isn't in the same league as Goldman Sachs.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#23
So some corporations should have "free speech" and some non profits should STFU- got it!
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#24
Did someone actually say that or did you make it up? What does the 1st amendment have to do with it?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#28
Meaningless throw away lines like anti-liberal talking points about progressive companies.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#36
I've been told again and again that taking ANY corporate money is corrupting the candidate....
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#38
When discussing corporate influence in politics I think Goldman Sachs is relevant.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#39
Not buying it, sorry. Looks like you threw out Goldman Sachs to browbeat people.
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#57
Yes I can see why you want to think facts about Goldman Sachs are irrelevant.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#60
You are clearly the own with false equivalency. Bordering on desperation, actually.
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#98
Actually I used Goldman Sachs as an example of a corporation that buys influence.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#99
You are contradicting Bernie. Corporations are evil. Ben & Jerry's is a corporation.
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#105
And yet you can't provide a link to him saying all corporations are evil?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#108
LOL, I knew this part was coming. The part where words have to appear exactly
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#115
So Bernie never said corporations are evil? Well that makes your point moot, doesn't it?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#119
Did I say Bernie "never spoke of corporations"? Can you post a link or the text?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#126
lol, I wonder what holes you will dig if I said Bernie demonized corporations.
R B Garr
Apr 2017
#136
No - you didn't, you claimed Bernie said "corporations are evil". Twice.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#137
Moving the goalposts again. You claimed he said "corporations are evil".
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#140
I do! Can you show me the post where someone said that? I want to laugh too!
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#114
Isn't that the argument you're making here by claiming the photo is ironic?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#42
It appears to be a more reliable predictor of when exceptions to "the rules" suddenly appear.
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#48
It's not supporting the company- its receiving support from huge corporations....
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#50
How is speaking from a Ben and Jerry's podium 'receiving support from a huge corporation'?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#52
Except we're discussing Ben and Jerry's, not Unilever. They're not the same thing.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#61
This whole thing is hilarious. When did Ben and Jerry's become evil?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#63
Actually I did since I mentioned it several times. But they're still not the same thing.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#65
Of course I knew it was owned by Unilever. That's why I commented on the blatant
DanTex
Apr 2017
#66
Except - again - NO ONE is defending Unilever. We're discussing Ben and Jerry's.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#67
LOL Unilever is an exceptionally responsible corporation, its hilarious to watch people acting like
bettyellen
Apr 2017
#69
Again - no one actually said that, right? What's with all these straw men?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#71
No, actually it isn't. One is a small progressive company in Vermont, the other isn't.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#72
You don't actually expect anyone to believe it's that simple, do you?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#75
Actually Unilever disagrees with you. Do they understand corporate ownership?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#79
You still don't understand the difference between a subsidiary and its parent company?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#85
You mean like how they don't know the difference between a subsidiary and its parent company?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#90
I do what what now? Can you provide an example of where I said that?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#97
And I suspect that the bright folks in the Unilever boardroom understand
Warren DeMontague
Apr 2017
#150
LOL! Thanks, I work with animals, you need to have a lot of patience.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#86
Wow. I did a search for that statement and the first link is to Breitbart.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#116
So, scottie, you're claiming that Ben and Jerry did NOT sell out to Unilever?
George II
Apr 2017
#121
No I'm laughing at the characterization of Ben and Jerry as "corporatists" who sold out.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#123
You're actually claiming that anyone who owns a corporation and sells it is a corporatist?
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#148
Oh, but in this thread we are assured that giant multinational corporations like Unilever can be
betsuni
Apr 2017
#118
Really? Can you link to those posts? I just reread this thread and I don't see them.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#120
Nope. Just searched again. Can you point it out? Should be easy enough to do.
beam me up scottie
Apr 2017
#128
By the way, it's very nice that you display a version of the Japanese corporation Sanrio's
betsuni
Apr 2017
#165
Spring is the time to turn over a new leaf. It wasn't very nice to accuse me of pulling
betsuni
Apr 2017
#160