Controversial and political comments are nothing new for the ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s. But amidst recent cancel culture and boycotts, their latest Fourth of July message is having some customers demand they receive the “Bud Light treatment.”
“Ah, the Fourth of July. Who doesn’t love a good parade, some tasty barbecue, and a stirring fireworks display?” Ben & Jerry’s wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “The only problem with all that, though, is that it can distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth: The US was founded on stolen Indigenous land.”
The company said in its tweet that “It’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it.”
It also said that we should “start with Mount Rushmore.”
The response from users online came instantly, with most calling for boycotts of the ice cream.
“Long overdue for the Bud Light treatment. You hate the country, fine. We won’t buy your product. All good,” one user wrote in response to the company’s tweet.
Responses also came from more well-known folks, including the press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Jeremy Redfern.
“No it doesn’t,” Redfern tweeted.
Country singer and songwriter John Rich wrote it’s time to “Make [Ben & Jerry’s] Bud Light again.”
Another common theme in the responses to the tweet was a call to action, in which users demanded that Ben & Jerry’s start by returning the land their stores and factories are on.
“I love how all these superior signalers never volunteer their own land first,” one user tweeted.
“Your factory is on stolen land,” another user tweeted. “Native Americans, primarily from the Abenaki tribe, have lived in Vermont for 10,000 years. In 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain was the first European to set foot in Vermont.”
Ben & Jerry’s has faced boycotts before, most recently when it said it wouldn’t sell its products in Israel’s “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The territory it was referring to is the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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