Guest guest Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Calling all Working Assets customers: As I'm sure you know, Working Assets periodically sends their customers coupons good for free pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I got yet another one with my phone bill recently, and of course, being vegan, I can't use it. Nor could I in good conscience give it to someone else and encourage them to consume dairy products that cause cows to suffer, so this voucher wound up in the recycling bin just like all the others I've received. A self-proclaimed socially progressive company like Working Assets really should not be supporting a business that exploits animals, no matter how "green" they claim to be. So I called the company, and wrote them a letter and email, respectfully asking them to end their corporate tie-in with Ben & Jerry's, or at least offer members coupons for free pints of non-dairy ice cream. If you are a Working Assets customer, I encourage you to do the same. Please give them a call, or send them an email or letter: just make sure you are polite. When I nicely explained my objections to the Customer Service Representative, she said she would try So Delicious ice cream and even gave me 60 free minutes off of my next phone bill! Send letters to: Working Assets Corporate Offices 101 Market Street, Suite 700 San Francisco, CA 94105-1533 Phone: (800) 788-0898 Webmail: www.workingassets.com/customerservice/email_action1.cfm?type=ld My letter to Working Assets is pasted below if you'd like to get some ideas about what to tell them. Thanks for speaking out for animals, Mat Thomas www.animalrighter.org Dear Working Assets: I recently received your gift of a coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. While, as a customer for more than eight years, I appreciate the gesture and know that you mean well, I cannot use the coupon because I am vegan. Essentially, I do not eat dairy or any other animal products because it is cruel to forcibly take the flesh or reproductive secretions from other species who are incapable of giving their consent. I wound up recycling the coupon, because I cannot in good conscience encourage anyone else to consume dairy when there is so much suffering intrinsic to its production. Even cows who are grass fed and live some semblance of a " natural " life on smaller " family " farms are sent to the slaughterhouse when their milk production declines. While the bovine's average lifespan is 20-25 years, most dairy cows are butchered for hamburger before the age of five. In addition, because their male offspring cannot produce milk and don't grow as fast or large as beef cattle, they are oftentimes raised for veal. In order to keep their flesh tender, farmers must prevent their muscles from developing, so they cruelly confine these young animals in crates that are so narrow they can't even turn around, then kill them at only a few months old. I am a Working Assets member because I strongly support your company's progressive stance on the broad range of social issues, and I want to help make positive change happen in the world. Yet as a vegan, I feel uncomfortable about your corporate tie-in with Ben & Jerry's, a company that pays others to take milk from mother cows, steal their children, and ultimately kill them without concern for their interests. No matter how dairy farmers may try to justify these practices, the inherent cruelty of milk production is ethically indefensible. Instead of giving away free ice cream, Working Assets should be urging members to speak out against agribusiness' inhumane treatment of animals, just as you offer opportunities for people to take action on every other issue. Working Assets' association with Ben & Jerry's is inconsistent with your corporate mission of social responsibility, and I hope you will consider ending it. However, because I understand how unlikely that is, I urge you to at least offer your members a more compassionate alternative by giving them a voucher for non-dairy ice cream. Since Ben & Jerry's has so far refused (despite repeated requests from vegans over the years) to market a non-dairy ice cream, I enthusiastically recommend that you send members a coupon for a free pint of So Delicious ( www.purelydecadent.com/products/organic_soy_delicious.html), America's top-selling dairy-free frozen dessert, along with the Ben & Jerry's coupon. So Delicious tastes at least as good or better than Ben & Jerry's, and is produced without harming animals. I sincerely hope that you will form a partnership with So Delicious or a similar company to give your vegan and lactose intolerant supporters "something to cheer about." It will also give your other customers a chance to try a product that they may really enjoy. Thank you, Mat Thomas www.animalrighter.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 FYI, you can take these coupons to a Ben & Jerry's store and get a hand-packed pint of sorbet. -Kim Mat Thomas wrote on 4/16/07 5:58 PM: As I'm sure you know, Working Assets periodically sends their customers coupons good for free pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I got yet another one with my phone bill recently, and of course, being vegan, I can't use it. Nor could I in good conscience give it to someone else and encourage them to consume dairy products that cause cows to suffer, so this voucher wound up in the recycling bin just like all the others I've received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.