Scarlett Johansson Drops Oxfam After SodaStream Controversy

YouTube/SodaStreamScarJo became SodaStream's global brand ambassador in early January.

Scarlett Johansson is dropping her title as global ambassador for Oxfam so that she can keep that title with SodaStream.

Her first ad for the Israeli soda kit company will run during the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.

The conflict is focused on SodaStream's large factory in the West Bank, an Israeli settlement claimed by Palestinians. Oxfam, an international humanitarian organization, considers such settlements to be illegal under international law and is against all trade from them.

Johansson's publicist defended the actress' position in a statement:

On Tuesday, a group of activists met with Oxfam representatives at Oxfam America's headquarters in Boston to urge the organization to cut ties with ScarJo.

Shortly after SodaStream announced its partnership with Johansson on Jan. 10, human rights groups from Los Angeles and New York delivered a petition with almost 12,000 signatures to Johansson's representatives requesting that she end her brand sponsorship.

Oxfam's statement suggests that it may have given Johansson an ultimatum:

The initial edit of Johansson's Super Bowl commercial for the company recently gained a lot of attention after Fox banned it from its broadcast for directly attacking Coke and Pepsi, huge Super Bowl sponsors, at the end. A new cut of the 30-second ad below will be televised instead: