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Political

The interior of the Ben & Jerry's in Hoboken, New Jersey

Following rumors that suggested that Ben & Jerry's supported the defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal—who was convicted in 1982 of killing Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner— the company confirmed that Cohen did sign a petition, as a private citizen, asking that "the system of American justice be followed fully in the case."

Controversy emerged in 2006 after the company released a flavor of ice cream called "Black and Tan." It had named the flavor after the alcoholic drink, which is made by mixing stout with pale ale, but the "Black and Tans" are also known as a paramilitary police force of British World War I veterans recruited during the Irish Revolution. At the time that the flavor was released, the Irish nationalist movement was still offended by the historical association of the title.

In 2012 Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (VTJP) contacted Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield and the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s after learning that ice cream produced by Ben &Jerry’s franchise in Israel was being sold and catered in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. After meeting with management and the Chair of the Board of Ben & Jerry’s, VTJP launched a website, a detailed report . and a letter-writing and petition campaign and leafleting actions to draw attention to this commercial activity in contradiction of the company’s iconic 'Social Mission'. Leafleting occurred at locations in Vermont, New York and California on 'Free Cone Day' in April 2013 and in April 2014 various organizations joined the leafleting actions on 'Free Cone Day' at 26 scoop shops in 12 US States. To date (November 2014), 232 organizations across the United States and in seventeen countries worldwide have signed a letter written by VTJP calling on Ben & Jerry's to end its commercial ties to illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. VTJP objects to the ice cream sales in Israeli settlements, which are in violation of international law, and also points out that the franchise's factory in Be’er Tuvia (adjacent to the town of Kiryat Malachi) is one of four Israeli localities located on the lands of the former Palestinian village of Qastina, in territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. However on July 9, 1948, after Israel’s declaration of independence and the ensuing war, Qastina was depopulated and its more than 147 houses were completely destroyed by Israeli forces of the Givati Brigade, and the land incorporated into Israel.) The Israeli factory may also be using water obtained illegally from wells and aquifers located in militarily occupied West Bank territory in contravention of international law.

In February 2012 a Ben & Jerry's franchise near Harvard University created a limited edition frozen yogurt flavor named "Taste the Lin-Sanity," in honor of Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin, a Harvard alumnus. At inception, the product contained vanilla frozen yogurt, lychee honey swirls and fortune cookie pieces, leading to a widely publicized controversy about racial stereotyping due to the association of the fortune cookie ingredient with Chinese culture. The latter ingredient was later replaced with waffle cookies, as the fortune cookies became soggy and the franchise received returns from customers. Ben & Jerry's general manager for Boston and Cambridge explained to the media: "we obviously weren't looking to offend anybody and the majority of the feedback about it has been positive." A basketball hoop was installed in the Harvard Square store, enabling successful customers to become eligible for a US$1 discount on the flavor. Ben & Jerry's released an official statement shortly after the launch of the product, in which it said:

We are proud and honored to have Jeremy Lin hail from one of our fine, local universities and we are huge sports fans. Our intention was to create a flavor to honor Jeremy Lin's accomplishments and his meteoric rise in the NBA, and recognize that he was a local Harvard graduate. We try (to) demonstrate our commitment as a Boston-based, valued-led business and if we failed in this instance we offer our sincere apologies.

Prior to the official apology from the ice cream company, a writer for sports media outlet ESPN published an article entitled "Stop the Linsanity insanity," in which he requested that those who were participating in the debate "Stop it." Lynn Hoppes wrote:

I was born in Vietnam to a Chinese woman and a U.S. military police officer and have lived most of my life in the United States. I don't know how to use chopsticks. I don't know any Chinese words. I can't tell the difference between Korean, Chinese or Japanese -- when it comes to the spoken word, the written word or physical appearance.

Hoppes suggested that the American public should allow the story "play itself out" and concluded with a claim that the incident had taken "political correctness to new heights."

In late April 2014, Ben & Jerry's signed onto the "Fight for the Reef" campaign, a partnership between the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS). The campaign collects online donations to fund a "legal fighting team" and displayed nearly 60,000 supporters on its website on 11 May 2014. In early April 2014, the company withdrew the popular Phish Food flavour in Australia due to the aquatic association and the potential for awareness-raising. The product withdrawal decision followed tours around select parts of the nation that involved Ben & Jerry's representatives distributing free ice cream to highlight the reef damage issue.

In response, Environment Minister Andrew Powell said that he would be contacting parent corporation Unilever, explaining, "The only people taking a scoop out of the reef is Ben and Jerry’s and Unilever. If you understand the facts, you’d want to be boycotting Ben and Jerry’s". The Australian public was also informed by Australian Ben & Jerry's brand manager Kalli Swaik, who stated to the Brisbane Times newspaper: "Ben & Jerry’s believes that dredging and dumping in world heritage waters surrounding the marine park area will be detrimental to the reef ecology. It threatens the health of one of Australia’s most iconic treasures."

Premier Campbell Newman, of Australian state Queensland, informed a radio station that he believed that Ben & Jerry's was involved in the dissemination of misinformation: "a company is bound by consumer law and can’t make false and misleading statements and they are making false and misleading statements when it comes to this." A state senator, Matthew Canavan, confirmed he raised the issue in writing with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and said to the Courier Mail newspaper:

Ben & Jerry’s can campaign on whatever issue they like but as a company they have an obligation to tell Australians the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Australia has strict laws to protect consumers against misleading and deceptive behaviour. These mistruths could cost jobs and development in regional Queensland. It’s irresponsible behaviour from a company that should know better.