Ben & Jerry’s parent company has lost nearly $2 billion in market cap amid calls to boycott the Vermont-based ice cream maker over a July 4 tweet condemning the US for existing on “stolen Indigenous land.”
Shares of Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multinational firm, slid 0.8% Thursday after closing down 0.5% the previous day.
The company’s stock price has closed Thursday at $51.31, nearly $1 below its closing price of $52.28 during Monday’s shortened trading — and the day before Ben & Jerry’s posted its unpatriotic tweet.
The result has seen its market cap drop to $128.5 billion from $130.2 billion on Monday.
Ben & Jerry’s, which was acquired by Unilever but whose board remains independent in voicing its views on political issues, said the July 4 celebrations can “distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth.”
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,” the brand’s official Twitter account and a statement on Ben & Jerry’s website trumpeted.
