With the Kamala Harris coconut tree memes, the Kamala Harris HQ TikTok page, and the Biden and Trump edits, there’s something so Gen Z about the build-up to the 2024 Presidential election. It’s not just Gen Z; brands have been vocal about the upcoming election as well, in particular ice cream shop Ben & Jerry’s. Ben & Jerry’s has consistently been vocal in the political setting, using social media platforms to educate fans on the issues and encourage fans to use that information to create change in communities. The brand goes about this in multiple ways, including new ice flavors. Especially with the recent release of the limited-time flavor, Churn out the Vote on August 7 — a combination of chocolate mousse, fudge chips, and pretzel swirls.
Ben & Jerry’s push for buyers to vote
This chocolate-packed flavor is available on the website, Scoop Shops, and grocery stores until Election Day on November 5. Churn Out the Vote is in partnership with the Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute (BVM) — an organization that works to mobilize marginalized and Black communities to vote. At Ben and Jerry’s Scoop Shops, a portion of the Churn out the Vote sales will go towards Black Voters Matter. Alongside sales, Ben & Jerry’s is taking an on-ground approach with BVM as the chain will spend time touring around Georgia in a Ben and Jerry’s Scoop Truck getting people to register to vote and handing out free scoops of the limited-time flavor.
This isn’t the first time the fan-favorite ice cream brand has partnered with BVM.
During the 2022 midterm elections, the ice cream brand relaunched its limited time flavor, Change is Brewing, with a new pint design by Black multidisciplinary artist Laci Jordan, in collaboration with BVM to do another voting registration tour around Georgia. During this seven-week tour, they visited HBCUs, rural communities, and metropolises where they connected people to the Ben & Jerry’s Voter Resource Center.
For the upcoming election, Ben & Jerry’s will be reopening its resource center online in hopes of turning buyers into voters. On the website, people can check their voting registration status, as well as find information on nearby polling locations, absentee voting, and early voting.
But it’s more than just ice cream.
Make some motherchuckin’ change
Ben & Jerry’s push for progressive policies and advocacy isn’t a recent development in the company’s work.
“The company was created with a three-part mission: product, economic, and social. We believe all three parts must thrive equally to create change and success,” said Palika Makam, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. Activism Manager, in an email. “We take a stand, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because we believe that businesses have a part to play in creating the change we want to see in the world.”
In 2019, the company partnered with Close the Workhouse Coalition to shut down an unjust workhouse jail in St. Louis, Missouri by touring around in their Scoop Truck to educate people on the workhouse injustices and advocate for the closing of the institution. A year later, the St. Louis Board of Alderman passed a bill to defund the workhouse and instead invest in community programs.
Across its social media platforms, Ben and Jerry’s is constantly posting about social issues and educating its audience on intersectional public figures and new policies that infringe on basic civil rights. Ben & Jerry’s ongoing series, highlights key activists across various movements.
A mixture of ice cream and care
Beyond advocacy, Ben & Jerry’s has taken mindful steps towards the creation of each ice cream flavor.
At its Vermont factories, Ben & Jerry’s has an ongoing decarbonization project aiming to reduce carbon emissions. Last year, the company purchased two electric yard trucks that “combined will reduce about 90 metric tons of carbon dioxide,” wrote Alexa Harrison, Ben and Jerry’s Public Relations Manager, in an email.
Ben & Jerry’s has also partnered with local Vermont organizations to install an anaerobic digester at the St. Albans factory, which aims to “turn community food waste and ice cream waste from the plant into energy,” wrote Harrison.
Ben & Jerry’s also sources its ingredients from like-minded companies big and small that align with its values and are reflective of its buyers. For instance, the flavor Oatmeal Dream Pie was created last year in partnership with Partake, a Black woman-owned, gluten-free cookie company. Since 2021, Ben & Jerry’s has also continued to expand its relationship with BLK and Bold, a Black-owned coffee company.
Beyond local farmers and smaller corporations, Ben & Jerry’s also sources from B Corps Certified companies such as Rhino Foods and Greyston Bakery. Since 1991, Rhino Foods has been the curator of the cookie dough that is put into flavors like the famous Half Baked and the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. While making delicious cookies and cookie dough for frozen treats, Rhino Foods also works towards making positive impacts in their employees work and personal lives by pioneering programs that provide extensive work assistance.
Baking company Greyston Bakery has been making brownies since 1982 and functions on an open hiring process that provides jobs to marginalized people who experience challenges in employment. Five years after the bakery’s conception, it joined forces with Ben & Jerry’s to create the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream.
Progressive values have always been and continue to be at the core of Ben & Jerry’s work. As a B Corps Certified company, the ice cream brand believes in using its business to create change. Some disagree with this philosophy, saying that Ben & Jerry’s should stick to what it knows best: ice cream. However, as Ben & Jerry’s stated in a TikTok, it will not just stick to ice cream.