When Black Friday Comes: Ignoring the Hate

Black Friday is the next day o'rage for the Bay Area Israel haters, and Soda Stream is the main object of their wrath. Ignoring the chance to be with family and friends, the haters chose to spend their time venting their anger against the only democracy in the Middle East, and specifically against a carbonated beverage maker headquartered  there.

Their schedule follows:

San Francisco  Boycott Soda Stream, Bed Bath & Beyond, Larkspur Landing, 10:00 a.m.
San Francisco  Women in black vigil, Union Square, 12:00 p.m.
San Francisco  Boycott Soda Stream, Macy’s, Union Sq, 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco  Civic Centre (meet at City Hall steps), 2:00 p.m.
San Francisco  Israeli Consulate, 4:00 p.m.

What do you need to know about Sodastream?

 SodaStream has a production facility in "Area C" in the disputed territories, which according to the
Oslo agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority remains under Israeli authority until a
final agreement is signed by both parties.

SodaStream is one of the largest employers of Palestinians in a region with a 20% unemployment rate. (Notice how the Palestinians are not boycotting Sodastream ) SodaStream pays its Palestinian employees wages that are on a par with Israeli ones and are 4-6 times the local wages. SodaStream also provides all their employees with full benefits .. Palestinians and Israelis work for SodaStream side by side.

Sodastream has been hugely successful, despite the deliberate campaign of misinformation surrounding it.

From Bloomberg Reports: June 2011

SodaStream, based in Airport City, Israel surged 6.1 percent to $37.60 by the close in New York, the highest since March 12. The shares have advanced 15 percent in 2012 and trade at 17.9 times estimated earnings.   

The stores can't keep the products in stock.

The number of Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. that are out of stock or have a limited number of the company’s soda makers has grown every week since June 4, according to the e-mailed Moness Crespi report dated today. Inventory of SodaStream products also decreased at Target Corp. and Macy’s Inc. following Father’s Day, the report showed. 

Sodastream is doing well financially,. More and more stores are carrying it- from major retail outlets to boutique gourmet stores. Its' featured predominately in many Christmas catalogs. Its a product that's fun, economical and ecologically sound.   Whats not to love?

The concentrated BDS campaign against Sodastream has accomplished nothing, affecting neither consumer sales nor retail confidence in the product. Nothing. Nada.  Zero. Zilch.  A tactic which has produced nothing in years  but a scattering of youtube moments  is irrelevant  For this reason,   local pro-Israel activists have chosen to ignore the cheap theatrics directed against Sodastream,  We're going to stay home instead, eat leftovers, and enjoy the ones we love. 

For this, we're all thankful.