By: Harold Greenberg
StandWithUS, a pro-Israel group is launching a $500,000 ad campaign to boycott “woke” ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, over the ice-cream maker’s refusal to peddle its products in Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories.
StandWithUS is posting billboards in North Jersey, including near Unilever’s Englewood Cliffs headquarters there, that say, “Don’t Let Ben & Jerry’s Melt Your Profits,” and “Don’t Let Antisemitism Melt Your Brand.”, NY Post reported
The Pro-Israel group explained on their homepage:
StandWithUs has launched a new public education campaign dedicated to exposing corporations that are complicit in discrimination and hatred against the Jewish people. The initial focus will be educating businesses and consumers about Unilever, a multinational corporation which owns Ben & Jerry’s and is complicit in its discriminatory boycott targeting Israelis. In the face of ample evidence that Unilever’s actions empower extremists who oppose Israel’s existence, and despite multiple requests to reverse course, the company has refused to do so.
“Corporations hold immense power to shape public opinion and cultural norms, and it is crucial to hold them accountable when they promote or enable antisemitism,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs. “This campaign against corporate antisemitism will begin with Unilever and ensure their consumer brands across industries bear a reputational and financial cost for its discriminatory actions.”
In addition to grassroots mobilization, the campaign will include high-visibility billboards, direct mail, and digital advertising — in order to build awareness of Unilever’s role enabling antisemitism.
The group created a second website, which is dedicated to explaining the new phenomenon of corporate anti-Semitism, exposing the far-left anti-Israel hatred embedded deep within the corporate world. Corporatehate.com, has a special section on Unilever.
StandwithUS notes:
Unilever is a huge multinational corporation which owns over 400 brands worldwide.
Unilever brand Ben & Jerry’s announced it would cut ties with its factory in Israel after 2022, in an effort to appease extremists who oppose Israel’s existence.
The chair of Ben & Jerry’s independent board supports discriminatory boycotts against Israel, implied Israel’s existence is a “catastrophe,” and attempted to whitewash the terrorist group Hamas.
The board chair also runs a group called the Oakland institute, which encouraged support for “resistance to Israel” by the terrorist group Hezbollah. The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation has reportedly donated at least $170,000 to the Oakland Institute.
In September ,2021, a former Unilever employee sued the company for antisemitic discrimination.
Unilever could reverse the discriminatory decision made by Ben & Jerry’s and take a strong stand against this hatred but has refused to do so.
Corporate antisemitism is when a corporation or business promotes or enables hatred and discrimination against Jewish people individually or as a group, StandwithUs explains on their new website. Their campaign against Unilever is rolling out in New Jersey.
The ads include a picture of a pint of “Double Standard Fudge” ice cream with the word “hypocrites” across the top.
Another billboard reads “Don’t Let Ben & Jerry’s Antisemitism Kill Your Profits” — with Unilever brands Dove, Ben & Jerry’s, Lipton and Axe listed on the top.
