That missing comma in the original hed is rather unfortunate. I'm honestly surprised both Ben and Jerry are still alive!

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has stepped away from the ice-cream brand after nearly 50 years, according to a post by the other founder, Ben Cohen.

Cohen’s post shared what he said was a letter from Greenfield in which he called it one of the “hardest and most painful decisions” he had ever made.

Greenfield said the company had been silenced by Unilever and its independence to speak up on global issues was “gone”.

“If the company couldn’t stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all,” Greenfield said.

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[–] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I guess he can cry himself to sleep on the giant pile of money that he sold out to Unilever for.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    Sure, but this is also Unilever altering the deal, pray they alter it no further.

    In 2000, Unilever struck a $326m deal to buy the business, a move that at the time reportedly did not please Greenfield, with stipulations including the creation of the brand’s own independent board to allow it to continue to take progressive stances on social and political issues and uphold its core values.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    @Powderhorn This is disappointing to hear. B&J's has always been very outspoken about social issues, and it's something I was glad to see that they were able to do. It seems unlikely to be a coincidence that now is when they feel unable to continue doing so.

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  • 6 comments in c/usa@midwest.social view that post
    [–] 47 points 1 year ago

    Quits comma accusing, not quits accusing.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago

    I wasn't a big fan of their politics when I was young.

    I always thought that they were just ice cream makers, stfu.

    Now that I am older, I have a deep appreciation for what they did and tried to do. They weren't afraid to speak out and their voice made me aware of issues that were not really in my sight.

    They sold to Unilever and so it was only a matter of time.

    I agree with others though. It could have been employee owned but they wanted that big payout. This was the cost of that.

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  • [–] 36 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Sells company to a big evil corporation. Complains when corporation does evil things.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    …despite an agreement protecting its social mission when it was taken over in 2000.

    Can anyone explain why isn’t this a contract violation?

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