Media Contact
Ben & Jerry's has accused its parent company, Unilever, of firing CEO David Stever for allowing the ice cream maker to speak out on social policy and political issues.
Tommaso Bondi
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Tommaso Bondi is a professor of marketing at Cornell Tech and at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Bondi’s recent research on “How CEO political activism can hurt (or help) business” can be found in the Cornell Chronicle.
Bondi says:
“Our research shows that, in the short-term, taking explicitly apolitical positions generally benefits firms. In other words: If you were launching a company today, my advice would be ‘stay out of politics.’
“But Ben & Jerry’s has always been a political entity. That has been a big part of their brand identity. How much credibility does this pivot carry? Can replacing a CEO truly reshape a brand’s long-standing reputation, or does it come across as a desperate, opportunistic attempt to keep up with the rapid shifts in American politics in recent months?”
