(17 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Burlington, Vermont – September 17, 2025
1. Wide of Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop exterior
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Becca Puga, visiting Vermont from Utah:
“My reaction is I think that’s really good for him. I tend to be more likely to support a business if they are speaking out on social issues. If they are, that’s something I’ve loved about being here in Vermont. All the businesses have like pride flags, Black Lives Matter signs on there.”
3. Close up of sign stating, “Dismantle white supremacy” on Ben & Jerry’s building
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Becca Puga, visiting Vermont from Utah:
“I think it’s good for him for standing for something that he believes in.”
5. Close up Ben & Jerry’s sign
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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Becca Puga, visiting Vermont from Utah:
“CEOs and business owners are showing their true colors. And some are continuing to speak out on issues regardless of whether they think that might lose them some business. I’m hoping that it’ll, like, lead to more businesses, more people standing up for that.”
7. Wide of Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop exterior
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8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Donovan, visiting Vermont from New Hampshire:
“It’s the right move. It’s Ben and Jerry’s, like if you’re not going to be able to say what you think is right, or if you going to get penalized for it, then it shouldn’t be a thing.”
9. Close up of Ben & Jerry’s sign
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10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Donovan, visiting Vermont from New Hampshire:
“I hope that the company still strives to help communities, people, humanitarian rights, things like that, like they’ve always done.”
11. Wide of Ben & Jerry’s exterior
STORYLINE:
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice cream brand after 47 years, saying that the independence it once had to speak up on social issues has been stifled by parent company Unilever.
In a letter that co-founder Ben Cohen posted on social media platform X on Greenfield’s behalf, Greenfield said that he felt the independence the brand had to speak on social issues and events was lost to Unilever.
“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world,” he wrote. “That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity. It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”
Greenfield said that the loss of independence was coming “at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community.”
“Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power,” he said. “It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.”
Greenfield noted that Ben & Jerry’s, famous for its colorful ice cream containers with flavor names such as Cherry Garcia and Phish Food, “was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world.”
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