On Thursday, Oxfam, the anti-poverty and humanitarian confederation, announced that they had accepted the resignation of one of their more prominent celebrity ambassadors, Scarlett Johansson. It was the culmination of a well-publicized controversy surrounding the 29-year-old actress’s new gig as the first global brand ambassador of SodaStream International, an at-home soda-maker that has attracted criticism for maintaining a factory in an Israeli settlement on occupied West Bank territory.
As you can imagine, a bunch of pro-Palestinian activists weren’t happy about ScarJo’s endorsement of the product. (Click here to read Johansson’s statement released last weekend strongly defending SodaStream and reaffirming her support for “economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine.”)
A version of her Super Bowl ad for SodaStream has been banned from Sunday’s broadcast—not because of the company’s controversial factory, but because the commercial was mean to Coke and Pepsi. Watch the rejected version above (see the ad that’s set to air on Super Bowl Sunday here).
“Like most actors, my real job is saving the world,” Johansson says in the ad.
Beyond the SodaStream controversy, Johansson’s has been fairly active in progressive politics. She spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, participated in Affordable Care Act celebrity outreach (click here to listen to her Planned Parenthood phone message reminding callers about Obamacare eligibility), and recently offered her endorsement of Hillary 2016.
In 2009, Oxfam severed ties with Sex and the City star Kristin Davis following her endorsement of products from skin-care company Ahava, which also operates a factory in the West Bank. Davis is now working with the anti-poverty organization, again, and is listed on Oxfam America’s website as a celebrity ambassador.
