<p>^ whew!</p>
<p>It’s kind of crazy to me - I never even thought the Coke commercial had the potential to be controversial until I saw this thread…</p>
<p>Look at the comments on articles. </p>
<p>Pure ignorance. </p>
<p>It’s as if people don’t understand that “American” is not an ethnicity. It is a nationality. America is a nation of a multitude of languages, cultures, races, and ethnicities. A song sung by the ones who live in it it giving praise to its beauty in the languages they speak is disrespectful?? </p>
<p>I feel like I’m repeating myself. 8-| </p>
<p>I really want to hear a legitimate reason from someone who finds the commercial disrespectful on why it is disrespectful. Who is is disrespectful to? </p>
<p>Explain the SodaStream brouhaha please?
Oh, googlefu to rescue.
Its operating from the occupied WestBank, although that seems to be illegal under international law.</p>
<p>They’re all here I think: <a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/media/super-bowl-commercials-2014-watch-and-vote-in-our-poll/”>http://www.cbsnews.com/media/super-bowl-commercials-2014-watch-and-vote-in-our-poll/</a></p>
<p>Youtube also has them all. If you click the light next to their logo it sends you to a grid having all the videos.
[Ad</a> Blitz](<a href=“YouTube AdBlitz - YouTube”>YouTube AdBlitz - YouTube)
It’s so cute. They have little sound effects when you scroll over videos that sound like fireworks!</p>
<p>To answer the question while avoiding any politics:</p>
<p>The SodaStream controversy is the current owners inherited a plant in an industrial park in the West Bank. They say they want to keep it open because the 500+ Palestinians who work there couldn’t transfer to another plant in Israel. (For good coverage, visit Haaretz.com and search for SodaStream. Articles go over all sides and include conversations with Palestinians.) They also say they would be happy to pay Palestine taxes if the industrial park becomes part of Palestine and that they would like to be a “seed” for the Palestinian economy. They say they won’t throw their Palestinian workers under the bus for politics. The jobs, btw, pay many times what Palestinian firms pay because under Israeli law they have to pay Israeli wages and benefits. SodaStream benefits from lower taxes - and maybe some other state support - but they say they get similar benefits at other plants, including those within Israel. (And they have more than 25 worldwide.) Given the number of public comments by SodaStream executives - which included interrupting a right wing politician on stage at a rally - it seems SodaStream may be genuine. Their leadership has been quoted as saying they oppose the “occupation”. Using the word “occupation” is a telling way of aligning themselves with the Israeli left, not right.</p>
<p>Some people believe SodaStream should be boycotted because, no matter their goals, they operate in the West Bank and that’s both illegal and wrong. There is certainly sense in that. The EU has developed a fairly nuanced policy to make sure the “boycott” issue is limited only to the West Bank, not to Israel itself. This means harming Palestinians in the name of this principle but the logic is clear. The EU in particular is trying to make Israeli companies disentangle themselves from dealings with West Bank settlements.</p>
<p>Others use this as part of the “BDS” movement, which as far as I can tell is really aimed at defeating Israel and which doesn’t limit boycotts to companies doing business in the West Bank. (See for example an attempt this week to ban an Israeli dance troupe from New Zealand because they’re Israeli.) I think these people are odious, but enough politics.</p>
<p>Those are the basics. You can read a ton of distortions as people try to frame their case in as horrifying or defensive manner as possible. Ignore those. Palestinians aren’t slaves at the plant and there isn’t some fabulous cross-cultural tea party going on either. It’s a factory with workers in an ordinary looking industrial park.</p>
<p>My take, btw, is that SodaStream is genuine and that Scarlett believes this is the right thing to do - co-existence over principles in an area about the size of New Jersey … and that both the company and Scarlett are naive.</p>
<p>SodaStream?</p>
<p>^^^Maybe you were getting Skittles?
It was the ad with Scarlett Johansen</p>
<p>I loved the Jaguar commercial, especially the teasers:</p>
<p><a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;
<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube;
I mean Tom Hiddleston, Mark Strong and Ben Kingsly???..“.oh yes it’s good to be bad”</p>
<p>My favorite ones were the Tim Tebow T-Mobile and the Morpheus Kia ones. Also glad to see 24 coming back, even if not in full capacity. </p>
<p>Can’t believe no one has mentioned DOBERHUAHUA.</p>
<p>(Weird as all get out, but still.)</p>
<p>I didn’t like that one. </p>
<p>It’s like they took ScrappyDoo from that one ScoobyDoo movie…You know where they’re on that island and it’s the end of the movie and Scrppy is all big and bad, but all the souls he took starts flowing out of him leaving an oversized head and small little body…No? Ok…</p>
<p>I loved the Coke ad…it made me cry 
i also am puzzled by a bad reaction to it!</p>
<p>Aww…that is so sweet!</p>
<p>My only objection to the Coke America the Beautiful ad was I needed a subtitle-like info thread to tell me which language they were singing. I only recognized a few and guessed at a few more. Loved it. America is Beautiful. </p>
<p>I’m curious about partyof5 saying that we are the only country who prides themselves on being monolingual…ummm, what?</p>
<p>Niquii, I didn’t exactly “like” the Doberhuahua commercial. It was pretty dumb and not all that well executed. I just liked the idea of it (I should also admit that my other dog is a Chihuahua).</p>
<p>I thought the Microsoft ad was very powerful. It particularly resonated with me because the opening scene is with Steve Gleason, a former professional football player who is living with ALS. (My mother died from ALS and I have an aunt currently struggling with the disease.) Technology is doing and will do wonderful things for people who suffer with various diseases.</p>
<p>I thought the Microsoft ad was very powerful. It particularly resonated with me because the opening scene is with Steve Gleason, a former professional football player who is living with ALS. (My mother died from ALS and I have an aunt currently struggling with the disease.) Technology is doing and will do wonderful things for people who suffer with various diseases.</p>