collegestudents,saidthewaycorporationsandtheirbrands
reactedtotheBLMmovementwouldpermanentlyaffecttheir
futurepurchasingpatterns.
Butintheageofgoing viral,attemptingtospeak to
morethanfourcenturiesofracialinjusticecanbeperilous.
Perhapsmostfamously,PepsiCotriedandfailedin 2017 to
evoketheBLMmovementbyairinga three-minuteadthat
depictedKendallJenner,a Whitefashionmodelfromthe
Kardashianclan,handinganice-coldPepsitoa policeman
flankedbyotherofficersinprotectivegearasanethnically
diversecrowdofactorscheeredheron.Companieskeeptry-
ing,though.FollowingtheFloydprotests,RighteousGelato
introducedachocolate-flavoredBlackLivesMattergelato,
thenquicklypulledit afteranonlinebacklash.(TheWhite
designerwhoshepherdedthebrandinglaterconcededshe
maynothavebeenbestsuitedforthetask.)PrettyLittleThing,
anonlineretailer,posteda photoonsocialmediashowingjet-
blackandpeach-tonedhandsclaspedabovethemotto“Stand
Together,”onlytobecriticizedfordepictingtheBlackhand
inanunlifelikehue.A distilleryinBristol,England,tweeted
a crassreferencetoitsgin’s“highflammability”makingit a
favoriteoflooters.
Othereffortswerebaldlyhypocritical.OnBlackout
Tuesday,oneofthemillionsofsocialmediaaccountsposting
a singleblacktileinsupportofBLMbelongedtotheNFL’s
SanFrancisco49ers,whichsplitacrimoniouslywithquar-
terbackColinKaepernickafterhebegankneelingduringthe
nationalanthemtoprotestpolicebrutalitytowardBlackpeo-
ple. Washington’s franchise posted a tile, too. L’Oréal SA,
whoseblacksquarewasoverlaidwiththewords“Speaking
outisworthit,”wascriticizedforinsinceritybyMunroe
Bergdorf,a BlackEnglishmodel,whosaidthecosmetics
companyhaddroppedherfroma 2017campaignaftershe
spokeoutaboutWhitesupremacy.(Thecompanyresponded
byapologizingfortheincidentandaddinghertoitsU.K.
diversityandinclusionboard.)
A McDonald’sCorp.statementthateachBlackvictimwas
“oneofus”promptedtheAmericanCivilLibertiesUnion
toaskthefast-foodchainwhyit wasdenyinghundredsof
thousandsofBlackworkersaccesstopaidsickandfamily
leaveduringa globalpandemic.(Thecompanyofferssome
paidleavetoworkersatcorporate-ownedlocationsbut
doesn’tguaranteeittothoseemployedbyfranchisees.)
StarbucksCorp.,whichpostedthatit stoodinsolidarity
withBlackpartners,customers,andcommunitiesandthat
it wouldn’tbea bystander,alsosaiditsbaristaswouldn’tbe
permittedtowearBLMclothing,untilanoutcryandboycott
threatsledit toreversecourse.
“Companieshavetoactually,truly,bereadyandwill-
ingtoaddresstheirimpact,andthatdoesn’thappenover-
night,”saysRashadRobinson,executivedirectorofColorof
Change.Robinson,who’saddressedaudiencesata number
ofleadingcorporationsaboutstructuralracism—thedeep-
seatedinfluence racial bias has on power structures—and the
importance of quantifying diversity, was one of the experts
McCarthy called to help Ben & Jerry’s draft its response. “A
lot of companies say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ but Ben & Jerry’s
has actually put energy, time, and flavor behind Black Lives
Matter. This is not new for them.”I
n 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, friends since
gradeschool,completeda $5correspondencecourse
inice-creammakingandfoundedBen& Jerry’soutofa
renovated gas station in Burlington, Vt. While most shop-
pers came to know the brand for apolitical waistline crimes
such as Caramel Chew Chew, it simultaneously became a
committed corporate activist, campaigning for causes such
assame-sexmarriage,criminaljusticereform,andnature
conservation.ItsethoscloselytrackedtheLennonesque
worldviewofitscreators,whooftenseemedmorecomfort-
ablehostingtheirOneWorldOneHeartmusicfestival,a
kaleidoscopeoftie-dyedrootsrockandpsychedelicBen&
Jerry’smotifs,thanparticipatinginquarterlyearningscalls.
Someofthecompany’smostimportantandlong-standing
commitmentshavebeenontheenvironmentalfront,andit
hasn’thesitatedtolinkitsproductdirectlywithitsideals.
In the late ’80s, it released Rainforest Crunch, a flavor that
incorporated nuts responsibly sourced from indigenous
Amazonian tribes, helping spark a national conversation37Bloomberg Businessweek July 27, 2020
McCarthy, the CEO