BURLINGTON, Vt.: Ben & Jerry’s announced today that it will host Rock the Vote and 5,000 fans at Burlington's Lake Champlain waterfront for a day of music, ice cream and political awareness. The event marks the kick off of the college portion of Rock The Vote’s five-month, fifty-city Bus Tour and it all happens rain or shine on Saturday, August 21st from 12 Noon until 5:00 p.m.

“Our goal is to register Vermonters, especially young people, educate them on the issues and inspire them to vote,” said Walt Freese, Chief Marketing Officer for Ben & Jerry’s. “According to the folks at Rock The Vote, 18 million 18-24 year olds voted in 2000 and they expect at least 20 million to turn out this year. We’re teaming up to make that stat a reality.”

Earlier this year, Ben & Jerry’s partnered with Rock the Vote to create Primary Berry Graham, the new Rock the Vote flavor. Now they’re hitting the campaign trail with the non-profit organization to make sure a new generation of voters gets to the polls in Election Year 2004. Rock the Vote’s national bus tour will incorporate celebrities, artists and community activists to encourage youth voter registration. The bus is scheduled to make stops at concerts, conventions and campuses in the most hotly contested cities in the 2004 election, all the way through Election Day. The RTV bus tour is sponsored by Sunkist, Cingular Wireless, Motorola and Ben & Jerry’s.

The musical line up at the Waterfront event will feature rising stars on tour with Rock The Vote, including Antigone Rising and Chris Grace, along with local favorites, Salad Days and Gregory Douglass.

Ben & Jerry’s employees will be getting out the vote in Vermont all summer long, as 50 notarized employees from the company’s Burlington, St. Albans, and Waterbury sites, travel to events around the state, sampling Primary Berry Graham ice cream and registering voters at events including:

ABOUT ROCK THE VOTE
Founded in 1990 by members of the recording industry, Rock the Vote is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and empowering young people to change their world. Over the past decade, Rock the Vote has called on young people to recognize their role in creating significant political and social change. In addition to registering over three million new young voters, Rock the Vote street teams are engaging young people as civic activists in their communities and contributors to the political process. These street teams have organized, educated and registered voters at thousands of concerts, community festivals, college campuses, pride events and coffee shops across the nation. Visit the website at www.rockthevote.org

ABOUT BEN & JERRY'S
Ben & Jerry’s produces a wide variety of super premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using Vermont dairy products and high quality, all natural ingredients. The company is committed to using milk and cream that have not been treated with the synthetic hormone, rBGH. Ben and Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops, restaurants and other venues. Visit the website at www.benjerry.com

Ben & Jerry’s, a wholly-owned autonomous subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part mission statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Ben & Jerry’s contributes a minimum of $1.1 million annually* through corporate philanthropy that is primarily employee led. Contributions made via the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 2001 totaled over$1.4 million. Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation. The purpose of Ben & Jerry’s philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities.

*annual contribution is adjusted upward to allow for sales growth and inflation