Magnum owns Ben & Jerry’s. Now it’s destroying what made the brand worth buying

Corporate America is retreating from stated values faster than at any point in a generation, and shareholders are starting to push back. Last week, BP shareholders confronted management at the company’s annual meeting over its retreat from climate commitments. Target’s stock fell 17% and same-store sales dropped after the company walked back its DEI commitments while Costco shareholders rejected an anti-DEI proposal by a 98% vote and watched their company’s sales keep growing. Customers and investors are noticing when companies abandon what made them worth buying in the first place.

Now ice cream is the latest victim of corporate war on social responsibility. Spun out of Unilever four months ago, the world’s newest and largest ice cream conglomerate, The Magnum Ice Cream Company, made a promise to shareholders to manage its portfolio of brands responsibly. It is not keeping that promise. Magnum owns well-known brands like Breyers, Klondike, Talenti and, notably, Ben & Jerry’s — which has been driving headlines during Magnum’s first quarter as a publicly traded company. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield resigned in protest after 47 years. The independent board of directors and the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation have sued Magnum in federal court, alleging breach of contract and their former board chair filed a defamation case of her own in California. In April, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen rebranded a four-decade tradition as “Free The Cone Day,” called on Magnum to sell the company, and urged consumers to rethink buying Magnum bars until it does. Magnum’s first shareholder meeting as a public company is May 7 and shares are trading at a 52-week low. Management has yet to offer a convincing answer to the simplest question its investors may ask:........

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