What is #freebenandjerrys and why are the company’s founders involved?
News of Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield parting ways with the company earlier this week sent shock waves through the internet and beyond.
While Ben & Jerry's may still operate under the brand's iconic name, Jerry has left the company — citing political differences between the brand and the company's parent company,Unilever and Magnum Global Ice Cream,as the cause.
Co-founder Ben Cohen broke the news on Greenfield's behalf on social media alongside the hashtag #freebenandjerrys — a tag that made its debut on Instagram less than a week before Greenfield's announcement.
"Magnum, you're ripping the heart out of Ben & Jerry's ... Set us free," Cohen said while sporting a white tee-shirt painted with a broken, bleeding heart.
"Ben and Jerry's has been trying to speak out to support student protestors — they wouldn't let us do that. ... We've been trying to speak out about the genocide in Gaza — they wouldn't let us do that. ..."
"We've been trying to speak out for racial justice ... They silenced us on that."
Unilever issued a statement disagreeing with Greenfield's claims and states it has "sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's powerful values-based position in the world."
Cohen took to social media to plead with Ben & Jerry's parent company to sell Ben & Jerry's to "a group of people who support the value of Ben & Jerry's," days before Greenfield announced his parting.
"The Magnum Ice Cream Company is making its pitch to investors about how it will work as a separate entity from Unilever," Cohen captioned the Instagram post. "But Ben & Jerry's shouldn't be a part of Magnum's future."
Cohen shared Greenfield's resignation letter on X on Sept. 17, which outlined some of the tensions Ben & Jerry's have confronted while operating under Unilever.
"What allowed the company to be more than just an ice cream company, was the independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed when Unilever bought the company," Greenfield wrote .
"... It's profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone."
The hashtag #freebenandjerrys has become a hallmark of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield's campaign to allow the company to break free of Unilever and Magnum Global Ice Cream ownership and sell to an owner whose values align with the values the company was founded on.
Cohen launched a website housing content related to the #freebenandjerrys hashtag along with statements prompting Ben & Jerry's fans to sign up for the campaign's email list for updates on "how you can help."
Ben & Jerry's parent company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hashtag.
Ben & Jerry's fans have taken to the comments on nearly every Instagram post on Cohen's social media pages to share their support.
Chance The Rapper took to X to show his support of the company's mission and disappointment over the news of Jerry's leaving and the co-founders' pleads.
"Ben & Jerry's is the only major company I know of that has repeatedly lobbied for Black American Reparations," the post reads.
"Two older men with access who have no incentive other than justice, are now being punished and silenced for their unwavering support of Palestine."
"I'm not heartbroken, I'm galvanized."
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