Business

Until gay marriage is legalized, you won't be able to have double chocolate ice-cream

Image: REUTERS/Fred Prouser

Chase Purdy
Global Business Reporter, Quartz

In a show of support for gay rights, one of the world’s most recognized ice-cream brands is imposing a harsh new rule for its shops Down Under.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand says it will refuse to sell two scoops of the same flavor in Australia until the country’s marriage law is reformed to give gays and lesbians the right to marry. It isn’t the first time the company has waded into the political fray. The company has used clever ice cream names to make statements about money in politics, the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, and many more topics.

“We are… encouraging our fans to contact their MPs to tell them that the time has come—make marriage equality legal!” the company says in a statement. “Love comes in all flavors!”

Image: Gay Star News

In 2014, research firm Crosby/Textor published the results of a survey of 1,000 Australians about their opinion on gay marriage and 72% said they supported making same-sex marriage legal—a number that is expected to have grown. Currently, Australia’s 1961 Marriage Act does not recognize same-sex marriage, including if couples obtain marriage licenses overseas.

The Australian Senate in February released a report on how to review the marriage law in parliamentary debate. The lawmakers will need to hold a free vote to set the wheels in motion for reforming the law. In a free vote, legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscious, detached from the official stance of their respective political parties.

Asked why Ben & Jerry’s has chosen to take action in Australia and not other countries with laws on the books banning gay marriage, the company said such initiatives are started on a regional basis. “Our regions work somewhat independently and chose social mission campaigns that are relevant to their area,” a spokeswoman told Quartz. “Australia chose to focus on marriage equality, which is in line with our company’s values.”

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Entrepreneurship

Related topics:
BusinessCivil SocietyEconomic Growth
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Entrepreneurship is affecting economies, industries and global issues
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

Subscribe today

13 leaders on the books that changed how they work, live and lead

David Elliott

December 19, 2024

How global corporations can support migrant workers

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum