It wasn’t so long ago that all sorts of brands were committing themselves to all sorts of supposedly good causes. Beer brands allegedly saved the rainforest, backpacks saved the oceans from plastic waste, and green spaces supposedly saved the capital market. Most of these brands immediately ceased their engagement as soon as "purpose" stopped being a useful marketing trend.
Not so with Ben & Jerry’s. The ice cream brand with the hippie aesthetic has been cold-bloodedly pursuing its company mission, "Love, Peace & Ice Cream," for nearly half a century. In Germany, Ben & Jerry's—founded in 1978 in Vermont by two "freak" friends and now part of the publicly traded Magnum Ice Cream Company—is involved in supporting refugees and LGBTQ+ rights, among other things.
For Ben & Jerry's, this is not a side project, but the main goal and raison d'être of the brand, as Hilke Krause, Business Lead for Ben & Jerry's in Germany, explains to me: "We are not activists to sell more ice cream," she says. "We sell ice cream to be activists."
Reason enough to take a closer look with Ben & Jerry’s German brand manager at how "purpose" tastes in an ice cream tub. In this podcast interview, I talk to Hilke about, among other things:
- The brand's mission
- The dilemma of being both activist and committed to shareholders and profits
- The conflict that has seemed to tear the brand apart in recent months
Because the two founders, now 74 years old, have lost their taste for their brand. Jerry, now 74, left Ben & Jerry's a few months ago in protest. Co-founder Ben is campaigning under the battle cry "Free Ben & Jerry’s" to pry his brand away from Magnum.
For anyone who wants to know how a brand tries to stay cool amidst hippie ideals, stock market logic, and internal culture wars: listen in now.