• Ben & Jerry’s may be owned by multinational Unilever, but that doesn't mean the brand has lost touch with its roots.
USA Today reports that on Saturday, 4-20, “the day of the year that unofficially celebrates cannabis culture, Ben & Jerry's is giving away free ice cream to people who buy pot … the deal on its Half Baked ice cream (was) only available in California, which was one of the first states to legalize the medical use of the plant in the ‘90s.”
At the same time, the ice cream company is teaming up with Caliva, a San Jose-based cannabis dispensary, to call for marijuana-related criminal justice reform.
GQ writes: “While several states now recognize legal marijuana use, across the country, someone's arrested for it on average every 48 seconds according to the FBI. And the millions of people swept up in the drug war are predominantly people of color.
“So Ben & Jerry's, the famously socially conscious ice cream company, published a video over the weekend to highlight that massive discrepancy. The company's main Twitter account posted, ‘It’s hard to celebrate 4/20 when so many people of color are still being arrested for pot. We have to do better.’
“A handful of U.S. cities have started expunging the criminal records of people with marijuana-related convictions, even in states like Maryland where recreational pot isn't legal yet. But there's still a long way to go, and hopefully corporate do-gooder campaigns can help to make that road a little shorter.”
USA Today reports that on Saturday, 4-20, “the day of the year that unofficially celebrates cannabis culture, Ben & Jerry's is giving away free ice cream to people who buy pot … the deal on its Half Baked ice cream (was) only available in California, which was one of the first states to legalize the medical use of the plant in the ‘90s.”
At the same time, the ice cream company is teaming up with Caliva, a San Jose-based cannabis dispensary, to call for marijuana-related criminal justice reform.
GQ writes: “While several states now recognize legal marijuana use, across the country, someone's arrested for it on average every 48 seconds according to the FBI. And the millions of people swept up in the drug war are predominantly people of color.
“So Ben & Jerry's, the famously socially conscious ice cream company, published a video over the weekend to highlight that massive discrepancy. The company's main Twitter account posted, ‘It’s hard to celebrate 4/20 when so many people of color are still being arrested for pot. We have to do better.’
“A handful of U.S. cities have started expunging the criminal records of people with marijuana-related convictions, even in states like Maryland where recreational pot isn't legal yet. But there's still a long way to go, and hopefully corporate do-gooder campaigns can help to make that road a little shorter.”
- KC's View:
