When I think of Scarlett Johansson I think of the prettiest woman in America. Okay, maybe my opinion is bias but I have to admit Scarlett Johansson is so beautiful! When I think about Johansson I don’t think about the politics behind the Israeli company, SodaStream.
According to an article in The New Yorker, earlier this month, Johansson signed on as the first-ever “global ambassador” for SodaStream. In a Behind The Scenes SuperBowl Ad Johansson told media that she has been using SodaStream herself for five or six years. SodaStream manufactures and sells in home carbonating drink systems. What Johansson seemed to not know when signing on to be the SodaStream Ambassador was the fact that the company operating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank contributes to the denial of rights of hundreds of Palestinians.
According to an article published by Fox News the beautiful actress, Scarlett Johansson, announced Wednesday that she was resigning from her Oxfam SodaStream Ambassador role because of a, “fundamental difference of opinion”.
Pro-Palestinian activists have protested against goods produced in Jewish settlements. SodaStream main plant is located in a settlement in the West Bank where many Pro-Palestinian activists have boycotted products produced there.
Despite controversy over the production of SodaStream products the company’s CEO, Dan Birnbaum, told The Associated Press that the campaign to boycott products from Israeli settlements had not had any impact on SodaStream and he even went on to say, “To the best of my knowledge, we have not lost a single customer…If anything, it advances our awareness around the world, because people are talking about SodaStream. –Dan Birnbaum
The PR Behind SodaStream’s Decisions
Let’s talk about corporate social responsibility. SodaStream seems to be overlooking the fact that all the controversy behind the making of their products is not helping them in CSR whatsoever. For the CEO to publically say that the company has not lost a single customer from the negative publicity out there sounds a bit absurd to me.
Maybe the company has not lost a customer but they have lost Scarlett Johansson. Scarlett Johansson stepped down as the SodaStream “global ambassador.” When it comes to use of celebrities to sell a product SodaStream nailed it by hiring Scarlett Johansson. Sadly, due to the poor CSR on SodaStream’s part they lost Johansson as an ambassador.
Three Things to Learn From SodaStream’s Decisions:
- A company should not hide anything from the celebrity they are hiring for endorsements.
- Poor CSR can directly affect a company’s reputation. After reading these articles about SodaStream’s factories it has made me not want to purchase products made by this company.
- Celebrities are people too. Johansson made the right decision by stepping down from being the SodaStream “global ambassador” but if the company was upfront with her from the start she may have never had to make a tough decision. Johansson morally did not agree with some of SodaStream’s political decisions and this can very well be attributed to her own Jewish religious beliefs.
Image Sources:
Image 1: http://www.bevreview.com/wp-content/image_sodastream_logo1.png
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Image 3:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/130318173111-gam08-sodastream-620xa.jpg
Illustration by Helder Oliveira
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