Come for the ice cream, stay for the activism.
That’s been Ben & Jerry’s ethos since the company was founded in 1978, but in 2025, the messaging strategy is on full display.
Even before the Trump administration began to target diversity and equity initiatives in the public and private sectors, many brands had already begun to cave to right-wing pressure and pull back on annual events like Pride. Now, more companies are cutting DEI efforts, and some are growing increasingly silent during heritage occasions like Black History Month.
But not Ben & Jerry’s, which has continued to speak out in support of racial justice and reproductive rights. That comes amid alleged pressure from the brand’s own parent company, Unilever. According to an amended complaint filed by the brand, earlier this month, Unilever removed Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever from his post, which Ben & Jerry’s alleges was due to his “commitment to Ben & Jerry’s social mission and essential brand integrity…rather than any genuine concerns regarding his performance history.”
Ben & Jerry’s filed the first version of this lawsuit in November, accusing Unilever of trying to silence the brand from expressing support for Palestinian refugees and ending military aid to Israel. In a February filing, it alleged that Unilever had “unilaterally barred” the brand from mentioning President Trump in a social media post. Unilever did not respond to Marketing Brew’s request for comment.
Amid the ongoing legal action, Ben & Jerry’s has continued to post about today’s political climate in more subtle ways, like sharing the definition of an oligarchy with its followers. It has also taken to the streets. At the January People’s March rally in Washington, DC, which Ben & Jerry’s sponsored, employees handed out ice cream and posted photos and videos from the event on the brand’s accounts; one TikTok video of signs at the march generated more than 2 million likes, and since January, the brand’s follower count has increased by about 4 million.
The response online is a promising sign, according to Palika Makam, Ben & Jerry’s US activism lead, and Jay Tandan, Ben & Jerry’s global head of digital marketing, who said the brand isn’t planning on tamping down its activism any time soon.
“I don’t think this is the only time that it’s felt like Ben & Jerry’s or a handful of companies were the only ones standing in their commitment to justice and equity and equality,” Makam told us. “It’s more important than ever for us to speak out…and do the work that we’ve always done.”
I scream…
After years of working in the advocacy and nonprofit space, Makam joined the ice cream brand in 2023. “I always said, if I was ever going to make the switch from nonprofit to corporate, it was only going to be with Ben and Jerry’s,” she said.
Because Ben & Jerry’s board “has legal oversight over the brand’s integrity at the heart of its social missions,” Makam said, the brand enjoys more autonomy from its parent company than a more traditional subsidiary might. It also closely pairs its brand activism and marketing teams and frequently partners with external advocacy groups. When crafting posts, Tandan said the brand often relies on the wisdom of longtime partners, like the ACLU and Color of Change.
“What’s been key to our recipe for so long is that we’ve never sat in a room…and said, ‘Hey, we know best, we know we know what to say,’” he said. “We go to the people who are the experts.”
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When a partner asks for help promoting certain initiatives or causes, Tandan said the social mission team handles strategy, and the digital team turns that messaging into “digestible formats” for online distribution via social or email.
“We’re really taking those messaging points and then transforming them in order to reach a new audience that our activism partners at a small nonprofit, for example, might not have access to,” Makam said.
While some advocacy efforts require quick turnarounds, others, like the People’s March, are planned further in advance, Tandan said. The virality and the boost in followers it experienced from posting about the People’s March, he said, have provided additional opportunities to educate and engage with a new and likely younger audience.
“A lot of people may not have known that Ben and Jerry’s is about more than just ice cream,” Tandan said. “We’re hoping that some of those people who are really interested in that content…will now take action as there are other issues that arise that we’re trying to get people to support.”
Around 25,000 people signed up for Ben & Jerry’s email listserv following the People’s March, Makam said, which will allow the brand to “re-target, activate, educate, and ultimately move to action” a potentially new audience of people on issues ranging from abortion rights to climate justice.
While virality can look good for a brand, Makam said it isn’t the only goal, adding that it’s only as meaningful as its ability to call people to action.
“It’s not about how many eyes see a post,” she said. “It’s about which eyes see them.”
You scream
For every post about a social cause, the company also needs to sell a little ice cream. Tandan said his team plans a traditional content calendar tied to product launches in between activist posts, and brand emails are usually a mix of ice cream and social justice–related content—a reflection, Makam said, of consumers’ multiple interests.
“People contain multitudes,” she said. “People really care about chocolate chunks, and they also really care about their reproductive rights.”
The brand’s outspoken support of progressive causes has resulted in a surge in brand loyalty among some customers, which Makam said was an unintended (but welcome) effect. “The way I will always afford Ben & Jerry’s,” read one comment on the brand’s TikTok video about International Women’s Day. “Suddenly I can afford Ben & Jerry’s,” read another.
The brand’s internal company research has found that people familiar with its social mission were 30% more likely to consider Ben & Jerry’s to be their favorite ice cream.
“People are loyal to brands that speak out and are using their power and privilege to act and to create a better environment and further justice,” Makam said.
The sentiment is one that is resonating for some consumers in the wake of the election. In a recent Harris Poll, 4 in 10 US consumers reported changing their spending habits to align with their morals, and 24% said they “have stopped shopping at their favorite stores because of their politics,” The Guardian reported.
Tandan said that sentiment is reflected on a bumper sticker he often sees in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s is headquartered: “Vote with your wallet.”
“I don’t see that changing in the future,” he said.
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