New Orleans, LA – Among the many advertisements to be running during today’s coveted Super Bowl is one from an Israeli company, that has not only revolutionized the beverage business by mass marketing home soda makers, but has also been the subject of much controversy with its planned ad for the annual mega-sporting event banned by CBS just days before it was set to air during the game’s fourth quarter.
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According to Yonah Lloyd, Chief Corporate Development and Communications Officer at SodaStream, located behind Ben Gurion Airport, SodaStream is possibly the first Israeli product to ever run an advertisement during the Super Bowl. The world’s leading manufacturer and distributor in the home soda maker business, SodaStream uses pressurized carbon dioxide canisters to transform water into seltzer. The company also markets 150 syrups, allowing the user to create their own flavored sodas at home. All flavors, including eleven brand name syrups such as Kool Aid, Country Time and Crystal Light, are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union and was approved for use on Shabbos by both R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach as well as the Orthodox Union.
The Unaired SodaStream Ad.
“Our mission is to revolutionize how consumers enjoy soda at home by turning water into soda in seconds,” Lloyd told VIN News. “Convenience and environment are two of the key benefits that are compelling to consumers. Others include value, as it saves you money and having a healthier alternative to store bought soda, something that particularly appeals to the American kosher consumer which typically has large families and may be very health conscious.”
The company decided to place its thirty second ad in this year’s Super Bowl, specifically targeting the fourth quarter, when it expects many viewers to be surrounded by empty beverage containers, hoping that its message of eliminating the need to carry, store and dispose of numerous bottles will strike a chord with the Super Bowl audience.
“It is the right time now, give out expanded distribution across 15,000 stores. The Super Bowl is the best venue, bringing our message to over 100 million viewers,” explained Lloyd.
But its original ad, which showed bottles of Coke and Pepsi exploding as a SodaStream user creates his own bottle of cola, reminding users that usage of the home soda maker is the more environmentally conscious, convenient and economical choice, was banned by CBS, the network airing the Super Bowl, last week.
Reports in the AdAge claim that the ad was banned because it was a direct affront to Coke and Pepsi, both major sponsors of the annual sporting event. A similar ad was banned in the United Kingdom in November for similar reasons. While SodaStream will be running a revised ad during the Super Bowl, the original ad, which was posted on YouTube on January 30th already has over 2,400,000 hits, giving the Israeli company an unexpected publicity bonus.
SodaStream has twenty factories in nine different countries. Their primary factories in Israel are in Mishor Adumim, Ashkelon, Kiryat Shemona and Alon Tevor.
Sodastream trades on the Nasdaq market under the ticker symbol SODA
i drink it and love it!!
B.H. a yidishe kop. what feel good story for all jews.. then i thought what will the reaction be when the anti semites pick up on israel/jewish/kosher clues… stay tuned go ravens
The same CO2 type item was available in Israel back in the ’70s. It was made of aluminum and leached into acidic drinks like grapefruit juice. I hope this one is different.
To #3: It was there in the 60’s also. Using one properly required the deft touch and feel of a concert violinist. One slightly wrong turn, and the “balon’s” gas would fizzle into the air, not the aluminum container.
Everyone who has some time should use the twitter hashtag #sodastream and say something good on the company it is full of haters there.
I’m all for any Jewish entity making money….kol hakavod, but: why knock coke/pepsi in the ad. My father a”h said many times, don’t focus on the competition nor compare yourself to them as a selling point, promote your item ONLY!
On the other hand, CBS has been known for many years as being less than Jew-friendly.
Continued hatzlacha to SosaStream.
The banned ones are usually MUCH better anyway!
There is a very simple solution to CBS and the National Football League (NFL), boycott all the products that are advertised on CBS during the Super Bowl and all other NFL games in the future.
Hit them in the pocket book, CBS and the NFL should be sued and I hope that they are
This ad seems to highlight coke and pepsi more than it does sodastream. You kinda even end up feeling sorry for the coke and pepsi guys at the end.
Ha the ad just aired on CBS after all the talk of being banned.
By the way they aired the commercial