For the first time ever, ice cream has left a bad taste in my mouth.

To be perfectly honest, it’s not really the ice cream but rather the ice cream’s inventors Ben & Jerry. 

I was just about to dive into a double scoop of my current favorite, Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie (with sprinkles of course) when my dad gave a grunt and muttered something about Occupy Wall Street. He went on to explain that Ben & Jerry’s is a big supporter of the group  and recently gave a million dollars to the movement. I investigated further, checked out their mission statement “leading with progressive values across our business” and was surprised at what I read.

My conflict here is this. Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are entrepreneurs who made it big. They’ve made a pretty penny off their pints and it’s safe to say they are millionaires a few times over. Their stock was once a Wall Street darling, and in 2000 they sold their company to a huge multinational corporation called Unilever. 

But now it appears, after making their millions, both Ben and Jerry have turned their back on corporate America and Wall Street. Call it a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you, complete with a cherry on top.

I’m not sure how I’m going to work through this conflict of mine, maybe a few late nights with some ice cream could help. But this time, it’s gonna be Haagen-Dazs.

Peace Love Profits,

Blake

• Tags
• Ben & Jerry's Occupy Wall Street ice cream Blake Kernen Unilever