We’ve been debating the issue in the Awesomesauce office recently following the news that ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield had left the business.
Jerry claimed the company was being “silenced” by parent company Unilever.
For context… the business was founded by Greenfield and his childhood friend Ben Cohen in 1978 and is known for taking a public stance on social issues from LGBTQ+ rights to climate change.
The company was bought by Unilever in 2000 for a whopping $326 million! Crucially, the acquisition agreement required Unilever to continue the business’ tradition of engaging “in these critical, global economic and social missions”, with Ben remaining on the governing board of directors, and both co-founders remaining as employees.
Until now…
While co-founder Ben remains with the business, he publicly backed Jerry’s stance, stating: “My heart leads me to continue to work inside the company to advocate for its independence so that it can actualise the social mission, the values that it was founded on and has maintained for over 40 years”.
Jerry’s resignation follows an ongoing dispute, dating back several years, after Unilever backtracked on an agreement to stop selling Ben & Jerry’s products in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, leading to Ben & Jerry’s suing Unilever before they reached a settlement in 2022.
So, should brands take a public stance on social and political issues?
It’s a topical and difficult conversation, as consumers are hit with daily news on divisive issues from politics to war.
Many brands have shown their support for important issues, from Gillette backing the #MeToo movement with their short film, ‘The Best Men Can Be’, to Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks and more taking a stance against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and Airbnb with their 2017 Super Bowl ad ‘We Accept’ after Trump signed an order to temporarily close the US borders to refugees.
More recently, last year’s flop Snow White reboot is a prime example of opinions impacting negatively on numbers. The film bombed at the box office – partly attributed to co-stars Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler’s openly opposing views on the conflict in Palestine.
Our take? It’s great to take a stance – just make sure that stance is consistent and aligns with your business values. And you need to be able to bear the brunt of any resulting public negativity from those who disagree with you, as well as the potential impact of any lost sales, or backlash from suppliers or customers who don’t agree with your stance.
And what about marketers?
This is where it gets possibly even more contentious. As marketers, should we voice an opinion or is it our job to deliver a brand?
It really depends on your position in the business, and whether or not you are in a position to shape the company’s values and actions. Ben & Jerry’s is a prime example of two people with shared values responding to the same situation in very different ways.
As marketing managers and directors, our job is to understand if the company should take a stance, and if so, drive the narrative behind that: instigating conversations internally; and understanding, shaping and communicating business values clearly.
Consumers are becoming more conscious of who they buy from and what the company stands for, from politics to ethics to their environmental impact – and that goes for B2B decision makers as well as B2C buyers.