The real underdog story of the Super Bowl is not the 49ers trying to come back and beat the Ravens. Rather, it’s start-up SodaStream challenging Coke and Pepsi.
Here’s the game day commercial.
As a product, SodaStream allows you to make your own sodas at home rather than buying branded drinks off the shelf. As a company, SodaStream aims to reduce the millions and millions of cans and bottles that end up in landfills from the soda industry.
Obviously, Coke and Pepsi don’t like the sound of that. In fact, the first ad that SodaStream created, shown below, for the Super Bowl was nixed by CBS because it directly targeted the two soda giants, who are two of the largest Super Bowl advertisers and may have played the man behind the curtain.
Here’s the amazing part
SodaStream still posted the original ad on YouTube and has garnered more than 4.3M views at time of writing. The video aired during the Super Bowl? Only 244K views.
Lesson to be learned?
People love an underdog. As the story about how SodaStream was pushed to create an alternate video that does not openly feature Coke and Pepsi has been published online, viewers are flocking to see the original video.
Coke and Pepsi, and to a lesser extent CBS, come out looking like corporate hounds who clearly feel threatened.
SodaStream has recognized the PR opportunity and has placed the unaired version on its homepage with the message, “Watch the SodaStream commercial they wouldn’t let you see during the big game.”
Do you think Coke, Pepsi and CBS made a misstep in pushing for a revised ad?
On a side note…
It apparently holds true that no PR is bad PR.
SodaStream has had some bad press about being an Israeli company located in Palestinian land. In fact, several activists groups have staged boycotts.
However, the potentially negative PR over the land dispute is actually driving others to purchase. As leftist groups protest SodaStream, rightists want to buy the product in response.