Above is the original advertisement SodaStream produced to be shown at the Super Bowl this upcoming weekend. It has been banned by the Fox Network not due to SodaStream’s politics in Israel/Palestine, but because it may upset larger Super Bowl advertisers Coke and Pepsi.
From USA Today:
Fox has rejected this year’s SodaStream Super Bowl commercial — roughly one year after CBS, the Super Bowl broadcast network for the last game, took a similar action against SodaStream’s spot for that game.
Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream, bitterly complained to USA TODAY late Friday that Fox rejected the Super Bowl commercial “because they’re afraid of Coke and Pepsi.”
This year’s rejected ad for the make-your-own soft drink company — which stars red-hot actress Scarlett Johansson sensually sipping her home-made soda — got nixed because it ends with her saying, “Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.”
That’s the line that Fox has demanded that SodaStream kill, says Birnbaum.
Don’t get too excited. At this point the ad will still appear, just without the offending line.
Man, you killed me with the last sentence.
Would be so great if it was banned in full
Is it all right to also be offended because the ad is so incredibly lame?
As much as I dislike SodaStream, I’m against the banning of SodaStream’s advertisement, whether edited or not.
“Less sugar, less bottles.”
Interesting English. Shouldn’t it be “fewer bottles”?
Ethical issues aside, both Sodastream and Johansson should be actively looking for a way to block that ad. It’s embarrassingly awful, but then, what does one expect from an ‘actress’ best known for parts of her anatomy?
BTW it’s ‘fewer bottles’, Scarlett, not ‘less bottles’.