Advancing justice
Ben and Jerry's
Spitfire works with Ben & Jerry’s, a company long known for its social activism, in its pursuit of systemic change to make the country a more just and safe place for all people. We began collaborating with Ben and Jerry’s in 2018, as it joined forces with the new Poor People’s Campaign to leverage its assets in advancing justice, and we continue to be thought partners and campaign advisers in the company’s work around criminal justice reform in 2019.
When it comes to critical conversations around race, justice and other pressing issues of the day, Spitfire understands that socially conscious businesses have a powerful role to play. That’s why we’ve been a central partner to Ben & Jerry’s in their pursuit of fair and just opportunities for communities of color, citizens returning after incarceration, and other communities whose voices are too often ignored in today’s policy climate.
To be successful in this effort, Spitfire’s team drew on our deep expertise in shifting attitudes, behaviors and beliefs around racism, oppression and opportunity. Beginning in 2018, Spitfire began collaborating with Ben & Jerry’s social mission team to shape their narrative in support of the Poor People’s campaign. To help the company define and amplify its work, we created an in-depth messaging guide — complete with compelling, tested points on social, economic and racial justice.
With these important tools in hand, Spitfire’s partnership with Ben & Jerry’s shifted gears in 2019 to support the company’s advocacy around front-end criminal justice reform. Understanding the company’s desire to bring in new audiences to the work of its partner organizations, Advancement Project and Color of Change, we developed a comprehensive platform for outreach and engagement with Ben & Jerry’s fan base. Ben & Jerry’s incorporated Spitfire’s framework into the full-range of public-facing materials it regularly releases on front-end criminal justice reform work: from blogs and social media to ice cream marketing, events and partnership work.
Over the course of our work together, Ben and Jerry’s came to rely on the Spitfire team as trusted counsel for its most senior and external-facing leaders. This has meant prepping the social mission team to speak to the board of directors about some of the more politically challenging topics, and engaging franchise owners in support of the company’s commitment to criminal justice reform at the company’s global franchise meeting. It’s also led to an ongoing role as campaign and outreach adviser, with Spitfire reviewing content to ensure it fits with the company’s overall conversation with its fan base and providing thought partnership to leverage the corporation’s role in conversations in the news from marijuana legalization to women’s rights, voting rights and anti-Semitism.