Johansson agreed to add SodaStream to her portfolio.
Was she aware of the BDS campaign against SodaStream? You may bet your retirement bonus that her public relations handlers were very much aware of that campaign. Did they tell this to Johansson? You know PR people don't work like that. Maybe the PR people had other ways to persuade Johansson that it was in the best interest to take the job, or maybe, Johansson really believes what her press release said, that she wants to foster better Israeli-Palestinian relations. Only Johansson knows.
She could have stayed with Oxfam. Her movie career is picking up; she has two more Black Widow Avengers films in the works. Her role as the voice of Samantha in the film Her, has been nominated for an Academy Award.
Instead, Johansson not only took the SodaStream gig, she soon withdrew from Oxfam.
What led her to take this action? It was a subjective personal decision by a movie star with decades of film-making ahead of her. Johansson is not yet established as a movie star with enough power to reject a gig that, we may assume she assumes, benefits Israel.
After all, she works in Hollywood, the movie-making capital of the world which is well-known as a center of pro-Israel sentiment. It is also known as a place where politicians like Barack Obama go to raise money from leaders of the film community, who are not known as BDS types.
Hollywood is also a place where the film press can be unforgiving for stars who do not play the game as it is expected to be played. Notice how the Hollywood Reporte r tells its readers how quickly Johansson developed an intense devotion to SodaStream. Notice especially the use of the Hollywood adjective, "beloved."
"When it comes to our love affairs with modern-day conveniences, Scarlett Johansson's devotion to her beloved SodaStream rivals even that of Her's Theodore Twombly to, well, her. But it's unlikely that the star anticipated quite what she was getting into when she signed on as that company's first spokeswoman and agreed to star in a TV ad that will air on Sunday's Super Bowl.
"The seltzer appliance company is headquartered in Israel, with its biggest manufacturing plant located in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumim -- a territory seized by Israel in 1967's Six-Day War that Palestinians lay claim to. Critics of Israel have for years demanded a boycott of the company, and those calls have grown louder than ever in the days leading up to the commercial's TV debut."
The Hollywood Reporter also gave some attention to a statement issued in Johansson's name. Public relations people do not ask stars to issue statements; they know it is best for her image for them to control such statements.
Which is why last Friday, according to the Reporter, the public heard that Johansson "issued a statement in response to the mounting criticism, saying, 'I remain 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, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights.'"
The Hollywood Reporter also, to its credit, reported from an Oxfam media release which states, "While Oxfam respects the independence of our ambassadors, Ms. Johansson's role promoting the company is incompatible with her role as an Oxfam Global Ambassador."
Movie stars do not normally get on the wrong side of the conservative media, where the point of view on the Middle East is demonstrated in the coverage of Johansson's decision to jump from Oxfam to SodaStream, an Israeli-based profit-making international corporation.
Under the headline: "SodaStream ignores anti-Israeli critics to quench Palestinian thirst for jobs," Fox news reporter Paul Alster gave the SodaStream version of its differences with BDS. Alster makes the case for Ma'ale Adumim as a SoftStream job creator center for Palestinians in need of steady work
"Haifa, Israel -- Jews and Palestinians might think an Israeli company providing hundreds of jobs in Palestinian territory is a way to promote peace and prosperity, but some international groups think they know better.
"SodaStream, the company whose home-based soda-making machines have become an American sensation, is under pressure to close down a factory in the West Bank, where more than 500 Palestinians work, reportedly earning up to 10 times the area's prevailing wage. The campaign has reached a fever pitch, after Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson ended her alliance with an international aid group miffed that she would endorse the company.
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