SodaStream commercial starring Bill Nye to appear just before Super Bowl half time
By CELIA JEANAn employee sorts carbonator bottles while working at the SodaStream factory in the West Bank(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Soda Stream is making a comeback in America's 54th Super Bowl this Sunday. The commercial features Bill Nye, known as "the science guy." The commercial is scheduled to appear immediately before half time on what is considered to be one of the world's most prominent commercial platforms.The intention of this year's SodaStream commercial is to show viewers a new way to be more environmentally friendly by saving plastic bottle usage.The last few seconds of the clip are set inside the astronauts' residence on Mars, they're on video call with Earth, when the sounds of the SodaStream machine hisses in the background. The camera pans around to show one astronaut quenching his thirst with a refreshing SodaStream drink, only for the rest of his team to realize it's the precious collected vile of Mars water.The clip shows Nye and another well-known personality: Elisa Carson, 18, the world's youngest astronaut who is now in training for a mission to Mars.SodaStream ends the clip with the statements that it aims to "eliminate 67 billion single-use bottles on this planet, so we don't have to go looking for a new one," to which Nye says, "This changes everything."This would be the first time that a SodaStream commercial is running since its last controversial appearance in 2014 with famous actress Scarlette Johansson. Then, Johansson was a global ambassador for an organization called Oxfam, a confederation of organizations focused on the alleviation of global poverty, and a leader in the BDS movement. Johansson received strong criticism after signing a contract with SodaStream, who at the time had its factory in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. She ultimately left Oxfam over a fundamental "difference of opinion."SodaStream is now pushing the environmental agenda, but it has long been an advocate for ethics. For years, the company ran a factory in the West Bank community of Ma'aleh Admumim, employing hundreds of Palestinians. The company strove to create an oasis of coexistence, but was forced to move it factory amid pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. At first, the company tried to continue to keep Palestinian workers, but ultimately had to shift to Israeli staff. More than 500 Palestinians lost their jobs.
