Ben & Jerry’s Called Out After Controversial Independence Day Tweet

“How can the makers behind such delicious ice cream be so gross?” I found myself asking, not for the first time, on the 4th of July when confronted with this tweet:

Ughhhh. Shut UPPPPP ALREADYYYYY. We get it, you’re woke, and that means it’s illegal to celebrate our great nation.

But at the very least, if you’re going to call out America at large, at least don’t be so blatantly hypocritical about it. Because guess where the ol’ B&J HQ is? If you were about to say “on historically indigenous land,” congratulations! You’re correct!

Because OBVIOUSLY it is. Equally obviously, Ben & Jerry’s have not offered that land back to the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, who would happily take it. According to Chief Don Stevens, they are “always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of [their] lands,” but alas, the offer’s not on the table.

Of course, if they were to give the land back to the Nulhegan Band, Ben & Jerry’s would be forced to find a new location for their headquarters. Probably not somewhere free and inexpensive like Texas, but maybe in nearby Pennsylvania, say. But ope, then they’ll be on historical Tuscarora land, oops! Down south to Alabama? Not if they want to honor the Cherokee by returning their ancestral homelands. Bite the bullet and relocate to Texas after all? Better check and see if the Kickapoo want their fields back.

Are you starting to see the problem, Ben & Jerry?

Or, more likely, was it only ever about empty grandstanding to begin with?