“Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.” With four words,SodaStream has won the hearts of consumers again.
Fox, the Super Bowl broadcast network for this year’s game, has stipulated that Sodastream remove the line (uttered by Scarlett Johansson, no less) from its 2014 Super Bowl commercial. And thousands of free words about it are flowing throughout the world.
Last year, CBS refused to air SodaStream’s commercial because of its blatant dig at Coke and Pepsi. It demanded that the logos of the Big Two be removed. Those logos appear in nearly every frame and are an essential component of the ad, which shows a Coke and a Pepsi truck racing to deliver to a supermarket to the tune, Duelling Banjos.
So, the ad didn’t run. But the media excitement did.
This year, SodaStream was well prepared for the media. Alex Bogusky, who is known for his social consciousness and was commissioned to work on the spot, told newspapers that he’s disgusted, “that Fox protects its big advertisers to the detriment of the environment and consumers.”
Then, SodaStream chief executive officer, Daniel Birnbaum complained to USA Today that Fox is afraid of Coke and Pepsi and, “If I could get my money back, I’d be happy to be out of that deal… This is the kind of stuff that happens in China. I’m disappointed as an American.”
Oh the outrage, Birnbaum. You also said all of this to the Harvard Business Review this week, in an article titled, SodaStream’s CEO on Turning a Banned Super Bowl Ad into Marketing Gold, by Daniel Birnbaum.







