SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum announces Scarlett Johansson as the company's first-ever global brand ambassador on Jan. 10, 2014 in New York City. Mike Coppola\/Getty Images for SodaStream)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In the commercial, airing during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLVIII on Fox on Feb. 2, Johansson will show us how the home soda maker works. The point is to \u201cdemonstrate how easy it is, how sexy it is, to make your own soda,\u201d said Daniel Birnbaum, chief executive of SodaStream International.<\/p>\n
Who better to do that than the woman who was named Esquire\u2019s \u201cSexiest Woman Alive\u201d for 2013? It also doesn\u2019t hurt that she\u2019s had some practice: Johansson has been a proud SodaStream user for a few years and has even gifted the machine to friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love carbonated water but hate the waste of bottles,\u201d Johansson says in a behind-the-scenes clip for the upcoming commercial.<\/p>\n
Sounds like it\u2019ll be far less controversial than the company\u2019s last Super Bowl ad, its first, showing a regular soda bottle exploding every time someone used SodaStream. It was seen as an assault on certain behemoth soda brands, and CBS ultimately refused to air it.<\/p>\n
Russell Simmons mixes up Sharon and Peres in condolence tweet<\/strong><\/p>\nHip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons was one of the many to publicly mourn former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who passed away on Saturday. He was probably one of the few, though, to mourn the wrong man.<\/p>\n
\u201cR.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon great pleasure working with you.. special occasions, your work to promote tolerance was inspiring,\u201d read the tweet that went out to his 3 million followers.<\/p>\n
If only Simmons hadn\u2019t made the mistake of using social media while exercising — a widely known no-no!<\/p>\n
\u201cOn stair master\u2026 a little light headed. confused ariel sharon with longtime friend, shimon peres. sadly sharon promoted war, not peace,\u201d read the follow-up tweet. The first message was deleted.<\/p>\n
In case you\u2019re left wondering just how much Simmons actually knows about the Middle East, he was sure to shoot out a small cluster of tweets on Sunday about his work with the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which promotes Muslim-Jewish and black-Jewish relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, I spoke at Shimon Peres\u2019 conference in Israel about our work at the @FFEUny to bring Jews and Muslims together in peace,\u201d Simmons said, adding: \u201cDuring that trip to Israel, where I met with chief rabbi of Israel and grand mufti of Palestinian ppl, we launched 20 programs for @FFEUny.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made no mention of how during the trip he compared the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s national director, Abraham Foxman, to Louis Farrakhan. Unless he deleted that one before anyone noticed.<\/p>\n
Rolling Stones talking about first Tel Aviv gig<\/strong><\/p>\nMore serious negotiations are going down in Israel — this time between Israeli producers and the Rolling Stones. According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Acharonot, the band is in the process of hashing out a deal to add a Tel Aviv performance to its upcoming European summer tour. It would be the first Stones concert in the Holy Land.<\/p>\n
The $4.5 million being offered the Stones is the largest amount for an artist playing Israel.<\/p>\n
Representatives for the legendary rockers are set to arrive in Israel shortly to continue talks.<\/p>\n
Israeli fans bummed out by last year\u2019s false rumors of a Stones show are likely crossing their fingers and hoping for some satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Meryl Streep labels Walt Disney as anti-Semitic, sexist<\/strong><\/p>\nWalt Disney may be portrayed as a mensch in \u201cSaving Mr. Banks,\u201d but Meryl Streep wants everyone to know that isn\u2019t entirely accurate.<\/p>\n
Streep took the stage at the National Board of Review awards gala in New York to present an award to Emma Thompson for her role in the film about how the man behind the mouse, played by Tom Hanks, convinced author P.L. Travers (Thompson) to sell him the movie rights to her book \u201cMary Poppins.\u201d<\/p>\n
First Streep praised Thompson, but according to Variety and other sources, she quickly launched into a little speech about Disney\u2019s anti-Semitic and sexist views. She pointed out that the mogul \u201csupported anti-Semitic industry lobbying groups\u201d and that he was a \u201cgender bigot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men,\u201d Streep read, quoting a 1938 letter the company sent to an aspiring female animator.<\/p>\n
Rumors about Disney have been out there forever (you\u2019ve got to be living under a bridge if you\u2019ve never heard the one about him being cryogenically frozen), but naturally they\u2019ve been discussed more since the popular film\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s true and what\u2019s made up? Vulture does a great job breaking it down right here.<\/p>\n
Lena Dunham lands Vogue cover<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cGirls\u201d is hitting the newsstands (that\u2019s where you can find magazines printed on glossy paper, in case you were born after 1990).<\/p>\n
According to Page Six of the New York Post, Vogue is devoting its February issue to the buzzed-about show. Lena Dunham will grace the cover, and in the process likely generate a dizzying amount of online commentary about how nutso\/awesome it is to see a woman who isn\u2019t size zero splayed out in fancy clothing — something that doesn\u2019t happen often under Vogue editor Anna Wintour\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
Clearly, Wintour truly approves of Dunham. She even posed alongside the \u201cGirls\u201d creator and star at the show\u2019s premiere Monday night, where Dunham looked simultaneously glamorous and totally real in a glittering Rochas gown.<\/p>\n
Anthony Weiner appearing on \u2018Alpha House\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\nEveryone\u2019s favorite disgraced former New York mayoral candidate is back on screen, and fortunately this time he\u2019ll be fully clothed. At least that\u2019s the hope.<\/p>\n
Anthony Weiner will play himself on the season finale of \u201cAlpha House,\u201d Amazon\u2019s original political series about a bunch of senators rooming together in Washington, D.C. The show was created by \u201cDoonesbury\u201d writer Garry Trudeau and stars John Goodman.<\/p>\n
According to The Wrap, the episode will feature cameos from other real-life Washington players as well, such as GOP Chairman Michael Steele, CNN analyst Jeffrey Tobin and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Also making an appearance: Bill Murray, returning to the role of Sen. Vernon Smits.<\/p>\n
Weiner no doubt is glad to be making positive, benign headlines again, unlike another sex scandal-scarred Jewish New York politician we know who this week was falsely accused of sucking his girlfriend\u2019s toes in a hot tub in front of a 10-year-old.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/scarlett-johansson-sodastream.jpg\" "\\"Scarlett")