occupy wall street

Ben & Jerry’s Founder Takes Back Occupy Wall Street ‘Batmobile’

Photo: Ben & Jerry’s

Ben Cohen, of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fame, agreed at the beginning of the year to donate up to $65,000 to an Occupy Wall Street action group for the creation of a “Batmobile,” a protest van equipped with a light projector for the group’s progressive messages. The Occupy ProjectoVan, a.k.a. the Illuminator, has since been the subject of a “custody battle,” DNAinfo reports, between its activist creators and their benefactor, who is repossessing the vehicle today after disagreements over how the movement’s “mobile billboard” should run. “[Cohen] didn’t want to have to bother with the messy part of being in a democracy,” claimed protester Mark Read. “He’s a 1 percenter telling the 99 percent, ‘I’m your boss.’” But he’s also behind Cherry Garcia, so we’re going to defer to him when it comes to branding.

Ben & Jerry’s Founder Takes Back OWS ‘Batmobile’