You may be wondering, “Who on earth is Jerry Greenfield?” But you do know of him — he’s the Jerry in Ben & Jerry’s. Or he was, until he told their parent company, British multinational consumer goods giant Unilever, to go to hell.

Actually, Jerry was much more gentlemanly than that. He simply resigned after nearly half a century with B&J’s, because Unilever had decided to put a stop to the ice cream makers’ well-known social activism.

This was despite an agreement made with Unilever at the time of the two companies’ merger some 25 years ago, which protected B&J’s well-known social mission. They had long been known for their advocacy of numerous social and political justice issues, such as climate change and LGBTQ+ rights.

In a letter shared on social media by Greenfield and co-founder Ben Cohen, Jerry said that leaving the company was “one of the hardest and most painful decisions” he had ever made, but that he could no longer “in good conscience” work for the business now that it had been “silenced” by Unilever. [Peter Hoskins, BBC, September 17, 2025.]

Ben said that “Jerry has a really big heart and this conflict with Unilever was breaking it. My heart leads me to continue to work inside the company to advocate for its independence so that it can actualise the social mission, the values that it was founded on and has maintained for over 40 years.” [Id.]

And Ben added that Unilever “has not been abiding by the terms of the acquisition agreement [and that] they’ve essentially been usurping the power of the independent board of directors which has legal authority over the social mission of the company, and now Magnum* is proceeding in the same fashion. They’ve also been muzzling the company.” [Id.]

* Magnum Ice Cream Company is a spin-off from Unilever, and is taking some of its brands — including Ben & Jerry’s — with it.

A spokesperson for Magnum said:

“We disagree with his [Jerry’s] perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world.” [Id.]

In other words, they’ve tried to persuade both Ben and Jerry to change their lifelong core principles to fit Magnum’s.

But Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, each in their own way, aren’t giving in. While Jerry has chosen to leave in protest, Ben is determined to keep up the effort from the inside.

Two strong, principled men being sidelined by the rapidly-spreading scourge of censorship. And I wish them the best of luck.

In the meantime, I’ll miss buying their Cherry Garcia. Consider it my little contribution to their protest.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/18/25