Corporate activism is too often cynical. In Ben & Jerry’s case, it offers hope

There is possibly only one thing worse for social justice movements than getting no recognition, and that is getting too much. Over the past few years, the subversive energy of popular movements for equality, whether #MeToo or Black Lives Matter, has regularly been appropriated by corporations.

Big businesses tend to have a good nose for trends that could affect their bottom lines, and so move early to show support for whatever fashionable cause has broken through. There is little actual activism going on here. These solidarity shout-outs are a safe, low-cost way both to get ahead of any internal issues that might end up being exposed, and to win over the sorts of customers who make political change part of their consumer habits. But the appearance of change, rather than any seismic shift, is what these corporates seem to prefer. The year since the Black Lives Matter protests has exposed the gap between internal practices and pledges of support for racial equality in many companies, with employees coming out to protest against what they see as tokenistic gestures.

There are, however, times when it isn’t all a cynical exercise to forestall criticism or sell more units. Last week, Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would no longer allow sales in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. The company released a statement saying “we believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. You are welcome to roll your eyes at the incongruity of “ice-cream vendor” and high political activism. It would not be unreasonable