Last week, news broke that the Vermont-based ice cream vendor was expanding its legal battle against its parent company, Unilever, accusing the consumer goods conglomerate of shutting down a social statement Ben & Jerry’s planned to release because it mentioned President Donald Trump. Then, over the weekend, a TikTok user posted a video showing that the company’s ice cream was under lock and key at a Safeway grocery store in West Seattle, Washington.
“They trying to stop the movement,” captioned TikTok user @Luisguerrero007. His video shows him opening the freezer doors to the store’s ice cream offerings, all of which are unlocked except for the Ben & Jerry’s product line.
The problem appears to be more than a one-off incident. TikTok user @maleautism shared a clip of a similar situation occurring in Seattle, and TikTok user @stephunnyjane posted a video stating that within the last fifteen minutes, she had seen two videos of people in supermarkets encountering locked freezers stocked with Ben & Jerry’s.
@maleautism Why are they locked up :( #icecream #benandjerrys #seattle #gay #mlm #lgbt #fyp #bear ♬ original sound – Art 🖤
On Sunday, Reddit user u/pasteldefresa posted a photo of the ice cream behind a padlocked freezer, though the reason is unclear. Some commenters guessed that it was to prevent theft or vandalism, while u/Existing_Fun_6634 wrote, “You sure it’s not cause Ben and Jerry’s is fighting for our rights? Have yall seen their tiktok page?”
Ben & Jerry’s has received a spike in social attention since the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, owing to the company’s singular outspokenness regarding politics.
Created in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield made social issues and activism a cornerstone of their mission statement. At one point, the company famously had a policy that capped the CEO’s pay at five times that of the lowest-paid employee; since 2021, Ben & Jerry’s has battled Unilever over B&J’s decision to remove their products from stores in the Israel-occupied West Bank, citing inconsistencies with their company values.
‘We’ve spent 46 years fighting for a more just world for ALL and year 47 will be no different’
After the inauguration, Ben & Jerry’s took to their social channels to voice their concerns. Recent videos include participation in the People’s March on Jan. 18, 2025, a response to the idea that the company should “stick to ice cream,” and posts about reproductive justice.
Ben & Jerry’s outspokenness has not gone unnoticed by social users. “I think I’m going to buy some B&Js today here in the Netherlands,” said @DeeEllaM in response to Luis’s TikTok video, and @katcomingbacktolife wrote, “I hope Ben and Jerry sue for violating their retail agreement.”
Those who weren’t aware of the company’s long-standing political history are also voicing their displeasure. On Threads, @kristianaoneandonly says “Now they’re throwing out Ben and Jerrys ice cream because they think they have suddenly gone political. 🤦♀️ Who’s going to tell them..” And TikTok user @dez._.zie._.autumn writes, “Never bought Ben and Jerrys ice cream before and sure as hell will not start now.”
The one thing everyone can agree on is best summarized by TikTok user @robertskay8 who says, “You know something’s wrong with the U.S. government when the ice cream companies are stepping in.”
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
