Ben & Jerry’s: Why Brands Taking Stands is Smart Business

by Jan Lee
Sep 14, 2017 9:05 AM ET
Ben & Jerry’s launched its successful campaign flavor Empower Mint in North Carolina, to promote social justice and voting rights.

Part of the COMMIT!Forum Special Series with TriplePundit

Few brands are as famous for their social activism than Ben & Jerry’s. The Vermont ice cream maker with global revenues of more than $1.2 billion (2015) is as much known for its social conscience as for its creamy, irresistible ice cream flavors. Pick a flavor and chances are you’ll walk away with more than just a good feeling in your tummy: You’ll feel you’re making a statement.

The carefully-chosen names of flavors like Empower Mint and Fossil Fuel ice cream help to send a message to consumers about Ben & Jerry’s values. A mint ice cream with a name that subtly reminds its fans about the importance of social justice and voting rights gets attention. And so does a rich concoction of fudge dinosaurs and chocolate ribbon when it becomes a conversation starter for why Alaska’s arctic wilderness shouldn’t be drilled.

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