2014 super bowl ads have a controversy winner as Scarlett drops Oxfam for Sodastream

Sodastream decided to run with the same SB tactic as last year, with their "Sorry, Coke and Pepsi" 'banned' super bowl ad controversy, and it was all going rather swimmingly until Oxfam suddenly entered the picture. You see, having Scarlett Johansson do her best Sofia Vergara/ Pepsi "drop my robe" impression wasn't the only reason this ad went viral. The fact that Sodastream has a factory in the West Bank and Oxfam, an international org born & headquartered in the UK, has been calling for a boycott of Israeli products in general, and Sodastream in particular helped. Scarlett Johansson used to be the international spokeswoman for Oxfam, but has resigned in disagreement. The Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid is concerned that Israel may face a European boycott and warns "even a very partial one, Israel’s economy will retreat backward and every Israeli citizen will feel it straight in the pocket." Palestianian workers back Scarlett Johansson's opposition to the Sodastream boycott, because if a boycott would be successful they'd be hurting the most. In short, not everyone thinks a boycott is a good idea, the CEO of SodaStream, Daniel Birnbaum, and the largest employer in the West Bank said “I just don’t see how it would help the cause of the Palestinians if we fired them.”

Meanwhile, Sodastream are lucking out in the "earned media" department.

SodaStream’s chief executive, Dan Birnbaum, shrugged off the boycott campaign.
“To the best of my knowledge, we have not lost a single customer,” he said. “If anything, it advances our awareness around the world, because people are talking about SodaStream.”
He said the company does not want to “sacrifice” the jobs of 500 Palestinians who work in the SodaStream factory “for some political cause” of activist groups.

Scarlett's official statement says that she "respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years... She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement." Meanwhile this week, UK Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, managed to make an official statement of holocaust memorial day not use the word "Jew" or "Jewish" even once. I guess she was boycotting even the word itself. That'll help.

So, same strategy as last year. Let the "Banned" ad reign the web, while another ad is scheduled for the actual super bowl.