Ben & Jerry’s To Stop Selling In "Occupied Palestinian Territory"

[Yehuda57]

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/1993054/ben-jerrys-israel-dont-boycott-us-we-withstood-intense-pressure.html

Does B&J Israel have any legal recourse against the parent company ? While they’re allowed to say what they want, franchising out to somebody & then destroying his business with a year & a half left on his contract doesn’t sound like something they should be allowed to do.
Or is that in the contract too ?

FWIW:
https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1417545265599418368

I asked for a source, but he's not the type to make stuff up.

[Kobe Bryant]

https://nypost.com/2021/07/19/morton-williams-cracks-down-on-ben-jerrys-over-israel-controversy/

[Kobe Bryant]

“I can say I will not be eating anymore Cherry Garcia for a while,” de Blasio replied. He then criticized Ben & Jerry’s announcement, saying, “That’s sad to me. I don’t know them well but I’ve met them over the years and I think they’re good people — literally Ben and Jerry. I think they’re good people with good values, but this is a mistake. They shouldn’t do this.

“BDS is a movement that will undermine peace in the Middle East. It’s as simple as that. You cannot have peace if you undermine the economic reality and create division. I just believe that’s absolutely the wrong approach and I don’t think Ben and Jerry’s should be doing that.” DeBlasio

[Yehuda57]

Gonna be mighty interesting to see how this plays out. Not with the boycotts, IMHO B&J will easily be able to ride that wave. But the licensee is sure to kick up as big a fuss as they can, and Unilever might try to take the opportunity to get rid of the activism clause.

[ah giten]

Gonna be mighty interesting to see how this plays out. Not with the boycotts, IMHO B&J will easily be able to ride that wave. But the licensee is sure to kick up as big a fuss as they can, and Unilever might try to take the opportunity to get rid of the activism clause.

OTOH, more companies may follow, as it becomes a style to show support to PA. Just like every website had Pride designs during pride month, and a black theme during BLM.
I do understand that changing a web page is easier than pulling out of a state, but depending the amount of pressure they recieve we can se a wave of more boycotts coming.

[avromie7]

Only for not being sufficiently woke. When has a backtrack gone the other way?

Didn't Coca Cola do that recently? I can't remember the exact details.

ETA: I think it had to do with the Georgia voting laws.

[ExGingi]

Gonna be mighty interesting to see how this plays out. Not with the boycotts, IMHO B&J will easily be able to ride that wave. But the licensee is sure to kick up as big a fuss as they can, and Unilever might try to take the opportunity to get rid of the activism clause.

I doubt Unilever can get rid of it, these socialists are smart and know how to use contracts, laws and courts for their cause. Unless some court (SCOTUS?) rules that it violates some constitutional right.

[Yehuda57]

FWIW:
https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1417545265599418368

I asked for a source, but he's not the type to make stuff up.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ben-jerry-s-withdraws-sales-israeli-settlements-clashes-parent-company-n1274403

[TimT]

Just like every website had Pride designs during pride month, and a black theme during BLM.

This is very different

[TimT]

"They are trying to destroy the soul of the company. We want this company to be led by values and not be dictated by the parent company."
Then why’d you ever agree to take their money ?

Yehuda57, I’m not impressed. What do they risk losing ?

[Yehuda57]

"They are trying to destroy the soul of the company. We want this company to be led by values and not be dictated by the parent company."
Then why’d you ever agree to take their money ?

They took the money on condition they would still control the social mission. They are claiming that Unilever broke that agreement. I'm assuming they would have gotten more money without the clause.

Yehuda57, I’m not impressed. What do they risk losing ?

I don't understand what you're asking me.

[yuneeq]

How many boycotts have we seen in the last 5 years? Which one has been successfull?

Gillette has been losing marketshare

[TimT]

I don't understand what you're asking me.

I’m disagreeing with this statement.

They're famously Progressive activists who want to actually impact the world and not just make money. It's quite an inspiring story.

Once they took Unilever’s money & got that clause put in, they can shoot their mouth off with impunity. I don’t see anything inspiring about this.

[aygart]

They took the money on condition they would still control the social mission. They are claiming that Unilever broke that agreement. I'm assuming they would have gotten more money without the clause.

What remains to be argued out with the lawyers is whether that social mission gives them the right to end contracts and to not sell their product or does it only mean that they get to shoot their mouths off.

[Yehuda57]

I’m disagreeing with this statement.Once they took Unilever’s money & got that clause put in, they can shoot their mouth off with impunity. I don’t see anything inspiring about this.

They were "shooting their mouths off" from the beginning, long before they could ever dream of being bought out by anyone, let alone a deal like Unilever. They were warned numerous times that their activism would cause them to lose sales, and they stuck to their principles. Whether that actually made them more money is up for discussion. Obviously, we disagree on how best to impact others, but I think it is certainly inspiring - i.e. we can learn from it - to see people use a successful business as a tool for impacting others.

[Kobe Bryant]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the head of Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, Tuesday that the ice cream maker’s move to halt sales in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory” could carry “severe consequences.”

“Prime Minister Bennett spoke with Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever which owns Ben & Jerry’s and made it clear that he views with utmost gravity the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to boycott Israel and added that this is a subsidiary of Unilever, which has taken a clearly anti-Israel step,” the prime minister’s office said on Twitter.

The British consumer goods conglomerate acquired Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.

[yuneeq]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the head of Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, Tuesday that the ice cream maker’s move to halt sales in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory” could carry “severe consequences.”

“Prime Minister Bennett spoke with Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever which owns Ben & Jerry’s and made it clear that he views with utmost gravity the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to boycott Israel and added that this is a subsidiary of Unilever, which has taken a clearly anti-Israel step,” the prime minister’s office said on Twitter.

The British consumer goods conglomerate acquired Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.

Unilever is huge, and sells a ton of product in Israel. If this continues escalating it can cause a lot of damage to Unilever.

[Abey]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the head of Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, Tuesday that the ice cream maker’s move to halt sales in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory” could carry “severe consequences.”

“Prime Minister Bennett spoke with Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever which owns Ben & Jerry’s and made it clear that he views with utmost gravity the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to boycott Israel and added that this is a subsidiary of Unilever, which has taken a clearly anti-Israel step,” the prime minister’s office said on Twitter.

The British consumer goods conglomerate acquired Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.

This puts them in a tough position as political activism was a part of their contract.

[ExGingi]

https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001378828

Amazing poor journalism where they can't get names or genders of key people in the article correctly.

[TimT]

https://twitter.com/hasidic_1/status/1417627043043454976