Scarlett Johansson’s SodaStream ad has been banned by Fox and won’t be shown during the 2014 Super Bowl. And although the ad’s sexy, with Johansson wearing a figure-hugging Stella McCartney dress and provocatively sipping soda through a straw, that’s not the reason Fox said no to airing it during the biggest game of the year. Instead, the reason the SodaStream ad was turned down is that it takes aim at two of the Super Bowl’s major advertisers: Pepsi and Coke.
Johansson’s the new Global brand ambassador for the product which she fully supports and used prior to being involved with the company. The new ad for SodaStream, a product that allows people to make their own soft drinks at home, has Johansson saying sorry to Coke and Pepsi, and that just didn’t cut it with the ad buyers at Fox.
Before it was banned, Johansson had this to say about her involvement in the commercial: “This Super Bowl commercial is such a huge platform – being able to do something that’s really flashy and eye-catching, it’s fun! It’s really a whole new world for me.”
SodaStream also had their ad denied last year, but that didn’t make this year’s rejection any easier to take for SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum. “What are they afraid of?” asked Birnbaum in an interview with USA Today. “Which advertiser in America doesn’t mention a competitor? This is the kind of stuff that happens in China. I’m disappointed as an American.”
