Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Hey Rube! II And bonus Irony alert.

So Ben and Jerrys wants you to know how "hip" and "with it" and "socially conscious" they are by inviting you to support their effort to overturn Citizens United via a constitutional amendment.

Why no, they don't provide the text of their proposed amendment. Just a feel good assurance of their goal of "a Constitutional Amendment that will keep corporate money out of our elections."

Call me crazy, but when you invite me to support your attempt to amend the Constitution in order to regulate Free Speech, I'd kind of want to know what I'm signing on for. How do you intend to limit Free Speech and Free Association in order to "take back American democracy"?


But don't worry just give them your name, email, zip code, and company name (it really helps if you own a business) to this large foreign owned corporation and they'll start lobbying congress and statehouses to get... corporate influence... out of politics. Huh.

Well, I'm sure they only mean to get rid of the "bad" kind of corporate money via their mystery constitutional amendment.

Though one of the Reddit one of the commenters nails it:
Ben and Jerry's, a division of Unilever (one of the biggest companies in the food business), has launched a cynical advertising campaign disguised as a petition drive to overturn citizens united. As part of a calculated effort to increase brand visibility and favorability among progressive, politically literate people, Ben and Jerry's has launched the petition which has been fine tuned not to step on any of unilever's interests.

Give them your contact info Rube!

Well. the alternative is that a subsidiary of a massive multinational is asking Americans to help them lobby for a secret amendment the Constitution with the aim of regulating Free Speech in order to weaken rival corporations while helping their own interests.

Geeze. A cynical hippy-dippy marketing gimmick is far more palatable.

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