Remember how actress and former global brand ambassador of Sodastream Scarlett Johansson ended her association with Oxfam over their BDS stance?
Yeah, so does Oxfam. Because it really screwed them!
Campaigning for “less popular” causes is a delicate balancing act that can easily backfire on charities, Oxfam boss Mark Goldring has warned, while admitting he has twice got it wrong with damaging consequences.
In a candid presentation to an audience of charity professionals on 14 December, Goldring said Oxfam had made high-stakes misjudgments in its notorious “perfect storm” clash with the coalition government and in the row over the involvement of its then celebrity ambassador, Scarlett Johansson with a company operating in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank.*
The Johansson furore had cost Oxfam America “literally thousands” of donors, Goldring revealed.
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In the Johansson case, after a protracted stand-off, the actor ended her eight-year association with Oxfam over its criticism of her for endorsing fizzy drinks company SodaStream, which at the time had a factory in an Israeli settlement.*
May all BDS-holes suffer a similar fate.
*Of course, the Guardian do not mention how Sodastream was employing hundreds of palestinian workers, who subsequently lost their jobs. Because, The Guardian.
