Ben Cohen fights to win back Ben & Jerry’s from the corporate overlords
To kick off my LIVE audience podcast series in Montpelier, Vermont, why not have ice cream legend Ben Cohen come explain his campaign to win back the company taken away from him by the corporate folks.
In Vermont, it takes about an hour to get a call back from Ben Cohen. That is part of the beauty of the place. You see Bernie Sanders on the street and in the airport. You see the governor throwing tires into the back of a truck. And you know your state legislator because they are your neighbor.
Despite 35 years in Vermont writing and talking about politics, I had never met Cohen, although I had followed the company and his story closely. And in typical Vermont fashion, one neighbor of mine was the chief flavor developer for the company. I went to college with one of the CEO’s and knew another one. And I knew Jerry from politics and activism.
So it doesn’t take long for an email to hit the Inbox from Ben’s assistant saying he would be glad to do the show in front of 60-plus people at the Montpelier Performing Arts HUB in the state capitol.
The result of that conversation is here.
The evening brought lots of fun surprises about the company and about the founders that you rarely read in the superficial media treatments.
I won’t spoil the fun but I do like to ask interesting people why they do what they do — what drives them. With Ben, I asked – “You are rich and you are famous. Why bother’’ with the activism, getting arrested.
It takes a lot of work and sacrifice to try and buy back the ice cream company you co-founded with your grade school friend, especially at 75 years old.
The answer was thoughtful and nuanced.
His bottom line: “Not everyone cares about money.’’
Cohen has spent decades now on his activism. Nuclear weapons, the Pentagon budget, Bernie Sanders, economic development in impoverished communities, Israel/Gaza.
That last one got him arrested at the US Senate and forced the hand of Magnum Corp., the owner of Ben & Jerry’s. Ben got Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling ice cream in Israel to protest its war in Gaza. So Magnum started firing the company’s independent board members. The move was a violation of the unique agreement Ben and Jerry had forged with the Unilever Corp. to allow for the independent board and political stances. But once Unilever spun Ben & Jerry’s off to Magnum, things changed.
So Cohen has lined up socially conscious investors ready to help buy back Ben & Jerry’s from Magnum. But they won’t sell.
What to do? Start with a PR and political campaign to pressure Magnum to sell. Nobody does PR and political activism better than Ben Cohen. He hopes the campaign will drive down the stock price and make it impossible for Magnum to keep Ben & Jerry’s.
Other great anecdotes from the talk:
Ben and Jerry had an agreement when they ran the company that if there was a disagreement and one of them felt really strongly, all they had to do was say so and that person won the day. Fascinating.
Cohen is still an employee of the company. (They tolerate him?) I suspect their PR people are telling them that firing him just gives him more oxygen for the campaign.
There are touching moments to all this. Check out Jerry’s statement on the campaign website resigning from the company he co-founded. You can also get involved.
Ben was good to stay for so long, not to mention bringing along ice cream for the audience. He also gave out merch for the Free Ben & Jerry’s campaign, stacks of stickers that he urged all of us to put on Magnum ice creams products like Breyers and Talenti in grocery stores.
And then it was over. Off he went into the Vermont night, on his way to the Shaws grocery store in downtown Montpelier to slap stickers on products of his dreaded overlord. I’m still not sure what drives him. But it is a thing to watch.
