Scarlett Johansson Says She’s No Role Model

First Scarlett Johansson endorsed the anti-poverty activist group Oxfam by serving as its ambassador. Then she left that behind in the uproar that followed becoming “Global Brand Ambassador” for SodaStream, an Israeli company that builds its home-carbonation machines on land Israel has occupied since the 1967 war.

Now she says no one should pay any special attention to what she says.

“I don’t profess to know more or less than anybody else,” the actress says in Dazed & Confused magazine, a print-only British monthly that landed her first interview since the SodaStream ruckus erupted in advance of the company’s Super Bowl ad starring Johansson. “If that’s a by-product of whatever image is projected on to me I don’t feel responsible as an artist to give anyone that message. It’s not my jam.”

Johansson’s declaration that “I don’t see myself as being a role model” may be both a bit late and a bit wishful. For movie stars, close public attention pretty much comes with the territory, and she seemed aware enough of the power of her celebrity both when she signed on with Oxfam eight years ago, and in January, when she was hired to promote a gadget that many have embraced as much for reducing the number of cans and bottles in the world as for the tastiness of the fizzy drinks it produces. As Johansson put it, with two exclamation points, in a company press release announcing her hire:

“I’ve been using the SodaStream products myself and giving them as gifts for many, many years. The company’s commitment to a healthier body and a healthier planet is a perfect fit for me. I love that the product can be tailored to any lifestyle and palate. The partnership between me and SodaStream is a no brainer. I am beyond thrilled to share my enthusiasm for SodaStream with the world!!”

Just as much enthusiasm appears to be felt by activists waging a campaign to boycott companies that do business in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the territories Israel conquered in the Six Day War of 1967 and have been occupying militarily — and building on — since. Palestinians want the land for an independent state, along with the Gaza Strip. The Johansson-SodaStream flap brought the campaign celebrity-grade publicity, raising awareness of the issue with exactly the kind of socially-aware, liberally inclined folk who’d consider buying a countertop carbonation system.