Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
31st January 2014, 10:42
Boycotting of Israeli products is not new, I know, but found this article interesting as had no idea SodaStream was Israeli owned now and always like seeing celebs try and justify themselves (and the fees they earn).
There was a time in the hard-up Britain of the 1980s when you bought a SodaStream for making your own fizzy drinks for the same reason you bought electric clippers for cutting your own hair - because it was cheap.
Things are very different these days.
The company - now under Israeli ownership - likes to emphasise its green credentials, trading on the idea that making your own cola at home in a re-usable bottle saves plastic bottles and therefore, ultimately, saves the planet.
The SodaStream has always exhibited a Dr Who-style capacity for self-reinvention - it started out as a machine for producing fresh soda water in the homes of the wealthy and well-connected in Edwardian England.
Now it is at the cutting edge of marketing, with a new global brand ambassador in the shape of the Hollywood star, Scarlet Johansson, and a new commercial ready to roll out for the US market in a $4m (£2.4m) slot during the Super Bowl this weekend.
But suddenly SodaStream - and Ms Johansson - find themselves caught up in the bitter politics of the Middle East, and in particular the calls for a boycott of Israeli businesses that trade on the lands that Israel captured in the war of 1967.
The fizzy drinks machine-maker has a factory in the industrial zone of Maale Adumim - a Jewish settlement built on occupied land to the east of Jerusalem.
Under most interpretations of international law - although not Israel's - building homes and businesses on such territory is illegal.
Many campaign groups want a ban on goods produced under those circumstances - or at least clear labelling so that consumers in other countries know they are buying things made or grown on Israeli settlements and not in Israel itself.
So far, so familiar, except that Ms Johansson was a brand ambassador for the charity Oxfam (which regards the settlements as illegal and opposes any trade from them) as well as for SodaStream (which has a factory in a settlement). Something had to give.
In the end, the actress decided to cut her links with Oxfam and stick with SodaStream.
In a written statement, she said: "I remain a supporter of economic co-operation 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 neighbours working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights."
(BBc News - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25966781)
There was a time in the hard-up Britain of the 1980s when you bought a SodaStream for making your own fizzy drinks for the same reason you bought electric clippers for cutting your own hair - because it was cheap.
Things are very different these days.
The company - now under Israeli ownership - likes to emphasise its green credentials, trading on the idea that making your own cola at home in a re-usable bottle saves plastic bottles and therefore, ultimately, saves the planet.
The SodaStream has always exhibited a Dr Who-style capacity for self-reinvention - it started out as a machine for producing fresh soda water in the homes of the wealthy and well-connected in Edwardian England.
Now it is at the cutting edge of marketing, with a new global brand ambassador in the shape of the Hollywood star, Scarlet Johansson, and a new commercial ready to roll out for the US market in a $4m (£2.4m) slot during the Super Bowl this weekend.
But suddenly SodaStream - and Ms Johansson - find themselves caught up in the bitter politics of the Middle East, and in particular the calls for a boycott of Israeli businesses that trade on the lands that Israel captured in the war of 1967.
The fizzy drinks machine-maker has a factory in the industrial zone of Maale Adumim - a Jewish settlement built on occupied land to the east of Jerusalem.
Under most interpretations of international law - although not Israel's - building homes and businesses on such territory is illegal.
Many campaign groups want a ban on goods produced under those circumstances - or at least clear labelling so that consumers in other countries know they are buying things made or grown on Israeli settlements and not in Israel itself.
So far, so familiar, except that Ms Johansson was a brand ambassador for the charity Oxfam (which regards the settlements as illegal and opposes any trade from them) as well as for SodaStream (which has a factory in a settlement). Something had to give.
In the end, the actress decided to cut her links with Oxfam and stick with SodaStream.
In a written statement, she said: "I remain a supporter of economic co-operation 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 neighbours working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights."
(BBc News - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25966781)