Leave it to leftist confectioners Ben & Jerry’s to politicize something as innocent and pure as ice cream. In the run-up to the mid-term elections, the Marxist-leaning ice cream brand introduced its latest frozen concoction, “Pecan Resist,” as a poke in the eye to the Dem-Lib’s favorite hate target, President Donald Trump.
“Alongside all those nutty chunks, this pint packs a powerful message under its lid,” the ice-cream maker declared in a mashup of marketing lingo and faux social-justice jargon. “Together we can build a more just and equitable tomorrow. We can peacefully resist the Trump administration’s regressive and discriminatory policies and build a future that values inclusivity, equality, and justice for people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, refugees, and immigrants. Pecan Resist supports four organizations that are working on the front lines of the peaceful resistance, building a world that supports their values.”
In a press release, Ben & Jerry’s explained that it simply could not be silent “in the face of President Trump’s policies that attack and attempt to roll back decades of progress on racial and gender equity, climate change, LGBTQ rights, and refugee and immigrant rights — all issues that have been at the core of the company’s social mission for 40 years.”
The four organizations the company plans to fund through the campaign are the black activist group Color of Change; a nativist/environmental activist effort called Honor the Earth; the radical feminist Women’s March; and Neta, which the Ben & Jerry’s marketing team describes as “one of the fastest-growing independent media platforms led by people of color along the Texas-Mexico border.” The company promised to donate $25,000 from its Pecan Resist profits to each of the groups.
However, the Ben & Jerry’s franchise in Israel has steadfastly resisted joining the campaign, largely because the Women’s March is “rabidly anti-Israel,” reported Breitbart.com. The news site noted that one of the feminist group’s leaders, Linda Sarsour, who was pictured in a Twitter post with the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, “has in the past accused Israel of ‘apartheid’ and shared a stage with Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh. Another Women’s March leader, Tamika Mallory, recently accused Israel of committing a ‘human rights crime’ when the state was established by ‘killing, stealing’ and ‘taking the lives of people who were there first.’” Breitbart noted that “Mallory is an ardent supporter of virulently antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.”
In a statement on its Facebook page, Ben & Jerry’s Israel clarified that it is an “independent and Israeli company. All of the products sold in Israel are made in a factory located in Beer Tuviya…. We buy our milk and cream only from Israeli producers. We have no connection to the decisions made by the global brand, and we don’t get involved in local or world politics.” The Israeli franchise added that “we do not intend to market [Pecan Resist] in Israel. We will continue to do and act for the community and for the company in Israel.”
In the United States, 2nd Vote, a conservative watchdog group that monitors corporate political activism, reported: “Ben & Jerry’s sounds as unhinged as the paid mob which was beating on the Supreme Court’s doors earlier this month. The fact that the ice cream company is donating to discredited groups like Women’s March is disturbing. Clearly, left-wing activism means more than truth, traditional American values, and engaging in an honest debate about America’s future.”
The conservative group encouraged consumers to hold Ben & Jerry’s accountable “by shopping elsewhere. Give your money to ice cream companies which respect your values. Three companies which 2ndVote ranks as ‘neutral’ on all of our issues are Blue Bell, Blue Bunny, and Cold Stone Creamery. These companies focus on your customer needs, not the newest left-wing nuttery.”
