Ben & Jerry’s co-founder increases pressure on Unilever with letter-writing campaign

Ahead of Unilever’s results on October 23, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, is launching a letter-writing campaign calling on Peter ter Kulve, CEO of Magnum, to sell the activist ice cream brand.

“Silenced”

Two weeks ago, Cohen announced that he would make life difficult for the Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever’s ice cream spin-off that will soon be listed separately on the stock exchange, if they refused to sell the Ben & Jerry’s brand. Now he is putting his words into action with the launch of a global letter-writing campaign. The campaign is intended to increase public pressure on the multinational at a crucial moment.

Via FreeBenandJerrys.com, supporters can send a letter to Peter ter Kulve, Jean-François van Boxmeer, and other board members, calling on them to “free” Ben & Jerry’s. According to the founders, Ben & Jerry’s independent board of directors was repeatedly silenced despite the guarantees given during the takeover by Unilever in 2000 about the brand’s social mission. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield has already resigned from the company for these reasons.

“When corporate parent entities prioritise profit over preserving the missions and identities of their companies, brand value is destroyed and sales are at risk. Both Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum are simply better off separate,” says Cohen.