Ben & Jerry's Mission for Change

Today, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not an unfamiliar term. According to SourceWatch , CSR “is commonly described by its promoters as aligning a company's activities with the social, economic and environmental expectations of its "stakeholders."” Everyone from huge corporations to smaller firms have jumped on the bandwagon to avidly support one or more causes, whether it is the green campaign, poverty or funding the formation of education programs.

Would you feel better about eating a pint of ice cream if you knew the producer was passionate about a certain cause? I would. As of yesterday (April 07, 2008), Ben & Jerry’s announced their partnership with the ONE Campaign. This campaign, according the ONE Web site, “seeks to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in developing countries.”
In order for Ben & Jerry’s to show their support of the campaign, they created a brand new flavor, ONE Cheesecake Brownie. I couldn’t think of a more fabulous combination of my three favorite sweets—cheesecake, brownies and ice cream! The container sports the logo of the ONE Campaign in hopes of educating loyal Ben & Jerry’s customers on the issue of poverty and the existence of the campaign.

However, this isn’t Ben & Jerry’s first mission with CSR. They currently support the Children’s Defense Fund and encourage ice cream lovers to “urge Congress to redirect spending priorities to invest more in America’s children.” They also avidly support the green campaign and created flavors such as Fossil Fuel (which targets global warming). Check out the video below:

Being an active supporter of cause that concerns the public can only help your image. Ben & Jerry's has taken a stance on many issues and shown their support through their products and Web site.

Links:

New ONE Ice Cream Launching in Burbank in a Few Hours

Ben & Jerry’s Launches Partnership with the ONE Campaign to Bring New Voices to the Fight Against Global Poverty