A Sodastream commercial has become a hit on YouTube, after being banned from an upcoming Super Bowl spot by broadcaster CBS for mocking rivals Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
CBS rejected the company’s initial attempt at a Super Bowl spot, reportedly, because the content of the spot took a direct swipe at two other Super bowl participants – Coke and Pepsi.
After the ban, Sodastream yesterday submitted a revised version featuring no brand names. It also released the spot that was rejected by CBS.
The banned version is now on YouTube, and has ammased around 2 million views to date.
The original ad featured Pepsi and Coca-Cola delivery men jostling for position in a store parking lot, who are soaked when their respective products begin to explode thanks to the “SodaStream effect.”
The ad touted how environmentally friendly the product is, as compared to the major soft drink manufacturers who get through plenty of plastic packaging each day.
The spot that will run in the game, while showing exploding soda bottles, doesn’t feature brand names.
Both commercials were the result of a collaboration between Common (the agency run by ex CP+B creative chief Alex Bogusky) Pale Dot Voyage and Octopus of the Mind.
Back in November 2012, a similar UK advert for a SodaStream machine due to air in a prime slot on ITV was pulled at the last minute.
But just before the campaign was due to hit screens, Clearcast, the organisation that pre-approves UK TV advertising, decided the commercial was unsuitable.
SodaStream UK branded the decision to pull its ad – which shows familiar looking plastic bottles of fizzy drinks exploding as people hit the button on the machine – ‘absurd’.
Watch the full, rejected Super Bowl spot (and the new approved version, below.
Rejected version:
Approved version:
