It is an axiom searching for a bromide that a delicious confectionary product searching for increased relevance will go from rags to rags within three generation. Certainly, that is what happened to Heckle & Jeckle, a premium ice-cream manufactured in an old oak tree in New England.
Okay, not exactly an old oak tree. And definitely not Heckle & Jeckle. The names have been changed to protect the self-righteous.
But this is what happens to an iconic product that has a huge fan base, international distribution, and a belief in their inherent morality. Instead of focusing on improving their product, decreasing their costs, or quietly donating a share of their profits to charities, they delve into the political by taking a stance. They decide that it is inconsonant with their values to distribute their ice cream in the “Occupied Territories” of Israel. And began a flurry of fury.
Instead of assuaging the fury by rethinking what their values ought to be—selling more and more of their delicious confections to all; they hunkered down on their moral tuffets and asserted that they and they alone are among the righteous. They remind me of the old Zen koan of the three disciples challenged by their guru to maintaining silence. As soon as they were told “Now,” one said, “When do we start.” The next said, “Duh.” The third said, “I am the only one who obeyed instructions.”
In this case, they assert their righteousness and ghost anyone who brings a fresh viewpoint to the table. I am inserting my week’s worth of e-mail to two different people in the organization. I have yet to receive a reply.
As you may conclude from my topic sentence, I was ghosted. So the next e-mail I sent was:
Since again I was ghosted, I sent the first two letters redux to another person listed on the web site:
Well, I guess I'm not sending out e-mails forever.
The last letter was sent this morning to both of my new contacts:
Poor Frusen Gladje. They were delicious, a victim to predatory capitalism. The cream may rise to the top but it won't necessarily make a profit. And Heckle and Jeckle may make a profit but politics can bring poverty to the Goliath who asserts that it was David who wronged him.