ScarJo SodaStream Super Bowl ad spices up blowout game
As Seattle dominates Denver, Israel-based company’s spot finally airs after weeks of controversy
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Football fans might have been losing interest during the 4th quarter Seattle Seahawks’ blowout of the Denver Broncos when Scarlett Johansson gave them a reason to perk up.
Her much-anticipated SodaStream ad, an earlier version of which was banned by Fox because it contained a dig at big soda manufacturers Coca-Cola and Pepsi, showed the spokeswoman extolling the virtues of SodaStream’s home carbonated beverage technology before removing her robe to reveal an elegant outfit.
The Israel-based company has come under fire from pro-Palestinian activists for maintaining a large factory in Ma’ale Adumim, a settlement in the West Bank. Many in the BDS movement, a global campaign that urges its supporters to withhold patronage of Israeli-made goods and services, employed the term “blood bubbles,” while others cried foul over Johansson’s role as an Oxfam ambassador.
In response to the criticism, Johansson said in a statement that she was a “supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine.”
“SodaStream is a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine,” she continued, “supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights. That is what is happening in their Ma’ale Adumim factory every working day.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKKVQLDYYcw
In another Super Bowl ad with Jewish connections, Budweiser took average guy Ian Rapoport, who spent his summers at a Jewish camp, on a wild adventure that included a stretch limousine, actor Don Cheadle with a sick llama, and a ping pong match against Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Times of Israel staff and JTA contributed to this report.
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