The history of Ben & Jerry's activism as it accuses Unilever of silencing support for Palestinian refugees in new lawsuit

Ben & Jerry's moto for 2024? Let's Make Some Motherchunkin' Change.

It's not a surprise the ice cream giant's latest campaign encourages activism, the famously progressive US company has been pushing for social change since it was founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978.

But it has once again clashed with its parent company Unilever over its stance on Gaza, leading to a lawsuit alleging Unilever has silenced efforts to express support for Palestinian refugees.

And its not the first time Ben & Jerry's has turned to the courts over a disagreement with its parent company.

What happened the last time?

In 2021 Ben & Jerry's said it would stop selling products in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because it was inconsistent with its values, a move that led some investors to divest Unilever shares.

Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal under international law.

The ice cream maker then sued Unilever for selling its business in Israel to its licensee there, which allowed marketing in the West Bank and Israel to continue.

That lawsuit was settled in 2022.

In its new lawsuit, Ben & Jerry's says that Unilever has breached the terms of the 2022 settlement, which has remained confidential.

As part of the agreement, Unilever is required to "respect and acknowledge the Ben & Jerry's independent board's primary responsibility over Ben & Jerry's social mission," according to the lawsuit.

"Ben & Jerry's has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights," the lawsuit said. "Unilever has silenced each of these efforts."

Ben & Jerry's said in the lawsuit it has tried to call for a ceasefire, support the safe passage of Palestinian refugees to Britain, back students protesting at US colleges against civilian deaths in Gaza, and advocate for a halt in US military aid to Israel, but has been blocked by Unilever.

The independent board separately spoke out on some of those topics, but the company was muzzled, the lawsuit says.

No same-sex marriage? No double scoop

Ben & Jerry's has campaigned for many issues, including abortion rights, racial justice, voter turnout, LGBTQIA+ rights and climate change.

But it's not just world issues or US politics the brand gets involved with, Ben & Jerry's has a history of campaigning for change in Australia.

Most notably in 2017, the company refused to serve customers a double scoop of the same flavour of ice cream until same-sex marriage was legalised.

"We are encouraging our fans to contact their members of parliament to tell them that the time has come — make marriage equality legal," the company said at the time. "Love comes in all flavours!"

As well as banning double scoops, Ben & Jerry's set up post boxes in their stores so customers could write to MPs and express their support for marriage equality.

And back in 2013, they even rallied for marriage equality in Australia with the 'I Dough, I Dough' flavour of ice-cream.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Australia on December 9, 2017, and double scoops were restored across the country.

Unequivocal support for the Uluru Statement

Last year, the ice cream giant announced their support for a Yes vote at the Voice Referendum.

"As a values-led company with a long history of advocating for progressive social change, Ben & Jerry's wholeheartedly stands by the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for Voice, Treaty, and Truth," the company said at the time.

"We support an unequivocal 'Yes' vote at the upcoming referendum and see this as an important step towards self determination and a more fair future."

The statement was released after some franchises were reportedly told to remove any material supporting a Yes vote in-store, which sparked criticism as the progressive company is not known for taking a neutral stance.

When asked why they didn't speak out sooner, Ben & Jerry's said it had been listening to First Nations views and expert opinions to make sure the company's message would "add substantive value to the movement".

"We have been working for many months to make sure we get the listening part right. We did this by consulting with and listening to First Nations views and expert opinions on the role that we, as a business, can play in supporting First Nations justice in Australia in the lead up to the Voice referendum," a statement read.

Other issues the company supports include:

• Creating a new flavour to fight for climate action support for Torres Strait Islanders
• Warning of the dangers of seismic blasting on Australia's shores
• The HalfCut initiative to fight deforestation in the Daintree

So what's next?

In March, Unilever said it would spin-off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry's, by the end of 2025 to simplify its holdings.

The company has rejected claims made in the Ben & Jerry's lawsuit, filed in New York federal court, and said it will defend the case "very strongly".

"Our heart goes out to all victims of the tragic events in the Middle East. We reject the claims made by B&J's social mission board, and we will defend our case very strongly," a statement emailed to Reuters said.

"We would not comment further on this legal matter," it added.

Ben & Jerry's said: "We are confident that these issues will ultimately be resolved. Due to the ongoing nature of the litigation, we are unable to comment on the specifics."

What will happen with the lawsuit remains to be seen, but it's safe to bet that Ben and Jerry will refuse to be silenced on their beliefs.