#BoycottUnilever is trending on Twitter as the world said the company is the proud sponsor of Russian war machine and genocide against Ukraine.
When Russia invaded Ukraine early last year, most Western companies rushed to pack up their wares and make a hasty exit from the Russian market. Those that remained have been the subject of heavy criticism from opponents of the war, and some people on social media are now calling for a boycott of Unilever.
The company, whose brands include Dove soap, Domestos bleach and Magnum ice-cream, employs 3,000 people across four manufacturing sites in the country. It confirmed in a statement earlier in July that it would comply with the Russian law requiring it to “permit the conscription of employees should they be called.”
Responding to the criticism in a letter to campaign group B4Ukraine, which advocates a withdrawal of Western firms operating in Russia, Unilever’s Chief Business Operations and Supply Chain Officer Reginaldo Ecclissato wrote in the statement: “We would like to reiterate that Unilever absolutely condemns the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless act by the Russian state and we continue to join the international community in calling for stability and peace in the region.”
The company’s stock price has closed Thursday at $51.31, nearly $1 below its closing price of $52.28 during Monday’s shortened trading — and the day before Ben & Jerry’s posted its unpatriotic tweet.
The result has seen its market cap drop to $128.5 billion from $130.2 billion on Monday.
Ben & Jerry’s, which was acquired by Unilever but whose board remains independent in voicing its views on political issues, said the July 4 celebrations can “distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth.”
“This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,” the brand’s official Twitter account and a statement on Ben & Jerry’s website trumpeted.
