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Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Ben & Jerry’s vs. Häagen-Dazs

Ben & Jerry’s vs. Häagen-Dazs — the corporate war you probably never heard of: Readers of Enterprise know we are fond of corporate wars, which are every bit as interesting as real ones. We also love ice cream (who doesn’t), a fact that makes this week’s documentary selection all the more interesting.

When it comes to Ben and Jerry’s vs. Häagen-Dazs, we, the consumer, have our favorites and we stick to them. But little is known of the corporate battle that has taken place for the luxury ice-cream market. The Goliath of the story is Häagen-Dazs, which in 1984 (an ominous date) tried to use its weight to bully distributors from taking on Ben & Jerry’s — an upstart ice cream bar founded by its eponymous hippie-nerd founders, who loved food. They fought back, using a mix of clever litigation and a brilliant marketing campaign targeting the Pillsbury Doughboy, the beloved mascot of behemoth food corporation and Häagen-Dazs parent Pillsbury. They’re victory would be a business lesson on how the underdog can take on a giant corporation.

But it doesn’t end there. What happens when that same David becomes the new Goliath? You may be surprised who you wind up rooting for. This half-hour BBC documentary takes you through the ups and downs of the ice cream wars, exploring monopolies, consumer branding, and the power of marketing. A must watch for anyone considering getting into a market dominated by a big player (watch, runtime 36:33).

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