While many businesses prefer to remain neutral on thorny topics such as politics, Unilever-owned (UL) -) ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's has always opted to take a bold stand instead on many a liberal topic.
From its "Issues We Care About" section on its website to its stance on gun violence in America, the brand has been famously progressive for decades -- but with its latest take, some think its gone too far.
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On July 4, the brand shared a graphic on its official Twitter that suggests the idea of returning the "stolen indigenous land" the United States was founded on.
This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it. Learn more and take action now: https://t.co/45smaBmORH pic.twitter.com/a6qp7LXUAE
— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) July 4, 2023
While historically this is fact -- from 1877 to 1934, Americans appropriated tens of millions of acres of Native American land -- the reaction on social media was pretty sour.
The tweet has garnered 28.5 million views and more than 49,000 comments as of the time of this writing. Some were quick to challenge the ice cream company, telling them to give up their property or "shut up" and accusing them or "virtue signaling."
Give ALL of your property and land back to the Native Americans right now then... or shut up.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 4, 2023
Will @benandjerrys give their land back to the Mahican and Pennacook people?
— Dan Goldwasser (@dgoldwas) July 4, 2023
Or are they just virtue signaling as always?https://t.co/dmVCZoniSW
Another compared the company to the recently controversial Bud Light.
The Bud Light of ice cream.
— Charles Watson (@cwatson34) July 5, 2023
And another vowed never to buy Ben & Jerry's again, which surely will be absolutely crushing to a business that's been going strong since 1978.
They will do neither... and I won't be purchasing Ben & Jerry's products any longer. They have been about as unAmerican as you can get for far too long. This was the last straw.
— Rhysalius🇺🇸 (@rhysaliuss) July 6, 2023
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