Early Thursday afternoon, ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s tweeted out a statement, declaring the company’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter. Choosing to be silent in the face of such injustice is not an option. https://t.co/6Vy0KHJeKU #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/pK96teLRhd
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) October 6, 2016
“Systemic and institutionalized racism are the defining civil rights and social justice issues of our time,” the statement read. “We’ve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats.”
Predictably, people had strong feelings about such a public statement on a controversial topic and sounded off in response.
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@benandjerrys thanks for saving me money by keeping you out of my freezer
— Justin (@JTK1985) October 6, 2016
@1Kimsey @benandjerrys This is disappointing. I have been a fan of Phish food forever. No more.
— Drew (@CoffeeIsMyVice) October 7, 2016
I've encouraged a boycott against them before, but more so now. https://t.co/bwwfdLnST6
— Dr. Michael A. Crain (@DoctorMikeCrain) October 7, 2016
There was also a huge amount of support for the ice cream company, which has not hesitated to wade into politically fraught issues in the past, including same-sex marriage and climate change. The brand’s founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, were also arrested earlier this year outside the U.S. Capitol during a protest against big money in politics.
So the calls for a boycott are hardly new territory for the company. Conservative groups made similar attempts after Ben and Jerry’s named an ice cream “I Dough, I Dough” in celebration over the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, after they released a statement saying that some flavors could dissapear due to climate change, and even after they playfully named a flavor “Schewddy Balls” in honor of a famous Saturday Night Live skit.
All this outrage hasn’t had too much effect on the bottom line though, probably because for every person who swore never to buy the company’s ice cream after these controversies, there is another who became a loyal fan. The brand sold for $237 million in 2000 and sales topped $500 million in 2015, according to reports.
So the way things are going, Ben and Jerry’s might actually be looking forward to more protests in the years to come.
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