Have you wondered how did the Ben and Jerry’s founders came up with the “Free Cone Day” idea? Of course at first we all like to think that it’s part of the company’s social responsibility, which is what I thought at first. It turns out that it’s more than that. The free cone day, is comes from the core of Ben and Jerry’s ideology, it is an expression of their most deeply-rooted values.
First it’s important to clarify that Ben and Jerry’s was founded during the time in which president Reagan was ruling in the US. As a response to his government, a counter-stream of people appeared, people who were eager to believe in a more credible counterpoint of view than the one they had been having from their actual government. This movement was reflected in all aspect of American society, including food, and there’s where Ben and Jerry’s was born.
Along with this stream and ideology came the social movement called “Back to the Land Business” which refers to an alternative movement strategy for taking on the growing irrationality of big business. The concept is against modern industry, and in its very beginning tried to feed youth hippies for free with food grown at a communal farm. It was within this movement that Ben and Jerry’s founders based their business idea, when it came to values and cultural codes.
Coming back to the present, Ben and Jerry’s “Free Cone Day” is referring to their basic ideology of “Back to the Land Business” and is this what makes them different from the rest of the ice cream companies. Up to a certain point, through this ideology they manage to identify them selves with people who share their point of view of “ice cream for the people” , natural and simplistic design, very non industrialized. They have been targeting an ideology and a culture, rather than just customers and for them this has been key to success.
Source: HOLT, Douglas; CAMERON, Douglas. "Cultural Strategy", Oxford 2010.
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