Did
someone say Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream?
Count me in! When I was young, it
was a tradition for my dad and I to buy a container of Ben & Jerry’s ice
cream once a month if I kept up with my share of the chores. We always had to try the newest flavor and I
have been hooked ever since. So when I
came across the article Ben & Jerry’s
Refuses to Change ‘Hazed & Confused’ Name from the PR Daily website, it
immediately caught my attention.
The
company’s newest flavor name “Hazed and Confused” has received criticism
because certain anti-hazing activists claim it correlates with hazing in higher
education institutions. The parent
company of the Ben & Jerry’s brand, Unilever, has claimed a pure advocacy
stance. Executives at Unilever held
their ground after taking into account Internet responses and comments. The company found that its marketing did not
condone, support, or infer hazing in any form.
The PR spokesperson for Unilever, Sean Greenwood, stated: “It didn’t
make sense for us to change the name…We named it because it’s a pop culture
reference” (Stanford, 2014).
I
found this article relevant to this class because it relates well with the
material covered in chapter eight of our textbook. The company chose to use a pure advocacy stance
and may have to dynamically alter their response if complaints continue in the future.
For more
details, please visit:
Reference
Stanford, D.D. (2014).
Ben & Jerry’s refuses to
change ‘Hazed & Confused’ name. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-17/ben-jerry-s-won-t-rename-hazed-confused-after-complaints.html
What a great find this week, it really does fit right in to the lesson. I think that sometimes you have to realize as a company that you just can't please everyone. I can understand where the argument has merit. It does say "Hazed" and the movie Dazed and Confused is actually about hazing. However, it is a flavor with HAZElnut, so it is also an innocent play on word there. I agree that they did the right thing by choosing not to change the name, especially when there wasn't a large volume of people complaining. The impact was obviously low, and I think most people would not find offense in it. I am surprised they got more feedback on the title than they did for referencing a movie about pot smoking kids, but that is a whole different battle to fight!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article, I am glad to read it. I support that company, which is Ben & Jerry keeps using the name Hazed and Confused for their Ice cream product. As a customer, if I see this name, I want to buy it, because this name really attracts me to buy it. I like this name. There is not a large number of people to say something bad about this name. This article is a good example to tell me when a company should claim a advocacy stance.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that was an issue with the hazing in this case. I correlated it with the movie Dazed and Confused with Matthew McConaughey. I think that it is a smart decision to choose pure advocacy because they are not doing anything wrong. Part of the fin with Ben and Jerry's ice cream is the play on words they use for their names. I think that they should stand thier ground and eventually the whole thing will go away.
ReplyDeleteI find this topic very interesting and right in line with what we have been discussing this semester in Public relations. I feel this piece speaks to the nature in which some consumers might interpret things differently. At first glance of the name I would have associated it with the movie and not with hazing in larger colleges. Either of which I am not sure I feel is appropriate for Ice cream. the name does however fit Ben & Jerry's theme of having silly or unique named Ice Creams. A company should hold there stance if they truly feel they have not done anything wrong. Besides flavors come and go.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of sticking to your guns and standing your ground on something you believe in (advocacy). Other companies may have avoided the conflict by conforming and changing the name. For me personally I like it when companies stand behind their products even if it causes some problems and gets some news time. This shows me that they truly mean what they say they meant and I am more likely to buy their product.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jessica, I would have connected Hazed and Confused to Dazed and Confused and thought it would be more of a marijuana advocacy problem and an herbal ice cream flavor! I've had green tea ice cream which I think would be somewhat similar but I wouldn't know! I also agree that Ben and Jerry's should stand their ground and hopefully it doesn't end up in their graveyard of discontinued flavors.
ReplyDeleteBen & Jerry’s in an excellent example of what can happen when you take a stance. When you are publically criticized you can either cave to the public request or you can take a stance and refuse to change. I think B & J is a good example of how holding your position can be beneficial. This is not the first time I have heard about them in the news but overall they are in good standings in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting read and I also found it to be close to home because I have been to the Ben and Jerry's headquarters in Vermont. It was quite a site to see and it was cool to get to walk around and see how they made their ice cream. That aside this article is a great representation of what we covered in chapter 8 talking about that pure advocacy stance that they took defending the name of their ice cream. I support them 100% because when I first heard the name I thought of the movie Dazed and Confused (which is a great movie). I did't think of someone getting hazed or hurt so I am glad that they stuck up for their name.
ReplyDelete