An ice cream war has erupted between the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s and its new parent company, The Magnum Corporation.
The Magnum Corporation recently became the new owner of Ben & Jerry’s when the business was spun off from previous parent company Unilever in 2025.
Ben & Jerry’s, a company renowned for its progressive social activism, is being prevented from speaking out in support of Palestinians and against US President Donald Trump.
Ben & Jerry’s claims that Magnum is violating a legally binding contract that allows the ice cream brand to speak out on social issues and has taken The Magnum Corporation to court.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen has called on Australians to boycott The Magnum Corporation products, which includes Ben & Jerry’s in protest of the brand being silenced.
“Australia has long been a market where Ben & Jerry’s has meant something beyond ice cream,” he said.
“Magnum is now using that goodwill to drive sales growth in the ANZ region while stripping the brand of everything that created that goodwill in the first place. Australian consumers have a voice. We are asking them to use it.”
Ben & Jerry’s claims that The Magnum Corporation and former parent company Unilever has broken the terms of its social activism clause on several occasions in recent years.
They claim that Ben & Jerry’s was blocked from speaking out on Palestinian rights, a ceasefire in Gaza, safe passage for Palestinian refugees, and solidarity with US campus protesters.
The lawsuit also alleges the company was prevented from criticising President Trump on issues including the minimum wage, healthcare, abortion and climate change; and posts about Black History Month from the Ben & Jerry’s account were blocked.
The Free Ben & Jerry’s Campaign was launched in September 2025 to call for the Magnum Ice Cream Company to allow Ben & Jerry’s to become an independently owned company, with socially aligned investors, free to honour its social mission and live by its brand values, without compromise.
The CEOs of Patagonia and Dr. Bronner’s, both socially progressive companies, have publicly backed the fight. Supporters across the US, the UK, and the Netherlands have been buying and placing Boycott Magnums stickers everywhere, from supermarket aisles to street corners, turning everyday spaces into sites of protest.
The Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board are plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit with trial to follow later this year.
