Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, a unit of the multinational corporation Unilever, has declared allegiance to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Wonder how the 99% manifests itself as an ice cream flavor? Fudge-coated student loan payments and a caramel swirl salted with credit-card debt induced tears?
Anyway, Ben and Jerry's is not alone: other food companies, restaurants, and breweries have latched onto shown their support of the movement as well. For starters, Sixpoint Craft Ales has donated kegs to the protesters. Sadly, they're filled with drinking water instead of beer.
Liberatos Pizza, a few blocks away from the New York protests, has sold "hundreds" of Occu-Pie pepperoni pizzas for $15. Owner Telly Liberatos tells Bloomberg "I have nothing to do with the protest...I don't take sides. It was a very slow summer. I'm trying to run my business." It seems to be working: the Liberatos Twitter account tells of pizzas purchased for protesters by those who can't attend in between watered-down protest slogans like "As long as we live, we hope" and "Your actions cause reaction." (If you wish to join the ranks ordering pizzas for protesters, you can order Liberatos online.)
But what about protests outside of New York? At this point at least 70 cities have had parallel Occupy gatherings. Restaurants in Portland are offering all kinds of deals in support of the movement, from specials prices for protesters to donating funds to the cause. See, it helps the Occupy cause and sells more cupcakes. Everyone wins! You know, except the 1%, ideally.
· To Those Who Occupy: We Stand With You [Ben and Jerry's]
· Wall Street Protesters Gorge on "OccuPie" Pizza, Veggies [Bloomberg]