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Sodastream has a knack for publicity stunts and ad campaigns that get it into trouble.
In June, I wrote about how Coca-Cola South Africa (NYSE:KO) passed along a (NASDAQ:SODA), the purveyor of home soda-making technology, in relation to Sodastream’s “cage” campaign. That campaign toured around cages of bottle and can refuse with taglines like “1 Family, 5 Years, 10,657 Bottles And Cans.” It was designed to illustrate how much garbage creation can be avoided by switching to Sodastream products, which feature reusable plastic and glass canisters.
“It will take a lot more than a letter from a lawyer to shut me up,” Sodastream CEO Daniel Birnbaum told me at the time.
Now, his company is encountering a new hurdle in its quest to communicate that particular element of its value proposition.
The above ad has been yanked from UK airwaves by Clearcast, the approval body for UK broadcast TV advertising. It has already debuted in the United States, Sweden and Australia, according to Sodastream. Clearcast pulled approval for the ad just prior to its November 22 UK debut during “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.”
According to Sodastream, Clearcast wrote the following with regards to its decision: “The majority decided that the ad could be seen to tell people not to go to supermarkets and buy soft drinks, instead help to save the environment by buying a SodaStream. We thought it was denigration of the bottled drinks market.”
“It’s absurd,” CEO Daniel Birnbaum said over the phone. “To be banned in the 21st century with advertising that actually tells an environmental story. I thought the Berlin Wall went down in ’89. Whatever happened to freedom of speech? I’m shocked that we got banned in a modern democratic society.”
He says that the company was careful not to mention, or show, competitors in the ad. And they don’t. They hired creative giant Alex Bogusky, formerly of Crispin Porter + Bogusky,Isabel Marant Boots, to produce the spot. You can assume it was something of a dream job for the advertiser, who exited semi-retirement to make waves with in October of this year.
For what it’s worth, Birnbaum says,Isabel Marant Boots, the conflict over the ad’s viability has led UK consumers flocking to its Youtube channel, which had fewer than 100,000 views prior to the kerfuffle. The channel recently eclipsed 1 million views.
“Nobody is going to tell people what to see and what not to see in today’s world,” Birnbaum said. “Clearcast can tell us not to put the ad on TV,Isabel Marant Boots, but they can’t tell millions of consumers not to watch it on Youtube. If that’s the way for us to get our message out, that works for me. Its less expensive.”
Birnbaum further suggested that the environmental and health harm that big soda has caused makes it worthy of its own advertising ban, comparing it to the cigarette industry.
As per usual, idealistic Birnbaum won’t go down without a fight. He plans to make the rounds on UK news channels to plead his case. Sodastream has also appealed Clearcast’s decision, scheduled to be reviewed on December 6. The company is hoping for a same-day decision.
You can read more about Birnbaum, and .
What do you think, readers? Should the ad have been pulled? Why or why not? Let’s talk in the comments.
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