“Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.”
You probably would have seen this video – it went viral recently because it was banned by Fox when SodaStream originally wanted to air the commercial during the Superbowl last weekend. This was the first time I heard about SodaStream, anyone else?
If you think that drinking bottled water is extremely unenvironmental, you would probably agree that drinking pop out of plastic bottles and cans is equally “brown,” only on a less frequent level (unless you are a super regular pop drinker!). SodaStream was actually founded in 1903 (a whopping 110-year history) out of the idea to carbonate regular water right at home and add customisable flavouring out of flavour concentrate bottles. This is an environmental option to drinking pop; no more recycling pop containers or going through the hassle of transporting them from the supermarket. In the long run, SodaStream is also cheaper than the current pop in retail, so this is a two-fold alternative: saving the environment with less bottles used and saving yourself some money!
My first thoughts are: wow, this is actually really cool, I want to get one now!
My next thought: wait, how does it taste? I demand a taste test.
Like all consumers, I went through the “consumption process” to see if I should actually purchase the SodaStream machine and accessories. Although it’s not too expensive, I wanted to make sure if I were to buy, I would use; or else it would be another piece of decor in my house. First of all, I’ll honest, Scarlett Johansson’s commercial did trigger a “want” for me to buy this, so next I went into researching the product. I watched a YouTube user’s review to see how other people liked the flavour. Sure enough, the taste was very different from “authentic pop” that you would buy, like Coke or Pepsi. From there, I stopped my research and re-evaluated my level of desire for SodaStream and realised that I didn’t actually need the product, nor was I a regular drinker of pop anyways.
As a product with a green aspect, I think SodaStream is a great idea. However, what stopped me from buying was the lack of tastiness of the drink. As soon as I learned that it couldn’t replace the conventional pop flavour, my desires for the product disappeared. This is a perfect example of me with the “great first, green second” mentality.
What I am curious about now is your thought on SodaStream: did the commercial work on you? Have you ever tried it?
Hi Jessica,
I also heard of the ad because it was banned, but I did hear about the product (or was it a competitor? I couldn’t say -which by the way shows the ad didn’t work that well on me) a couple years ago in France. At first, I was very intrigued: what? make pops at home? Really? Fun! But then, same as you, I do not need it -at all, I very rarely drink soda. Another concern is actually about the issue you raise: it is better for the environment than buying a new bottle every day, or several times a week, but is it that useful to a large segment off consumers that only buy some occasionally? No. Therefore, I agree with you when you underline the importance of thinking about the product usefulness in one’s life before rushing to the store to buy a cool new (or not so new) item, and I think this is what needs to change in consumers’ minds: thinking thoroughly before purchasing most products. Because underusing a product is a shame, and being disappointed by a not so great product simply is a waste of money on the consumer’s side. And once you realize you’ve made a mistake, you usually are stuck with a product you don’t even like, and apart from selling it or giving it to someone else, it is hard to get rid of it without having a bad impact on the environment.
Hi Jennifer,
I have owned a SodaStream for a couple of years now. My boyfriend and I get quite a bit of use out of it, because we both enjoy fizzy water, and were previously buying Perrier or Pellegrino quite often. I rarely use it for creating colas though, as I too find that the flavour is not quite the same as Coke or Pepsi.
While I agree that SodaStream is environmentally friendly because it reuses bottles, I recently discovered that there is much controversy about the company because it is an Israeli company that has built a factory in West Bank. This puts the company in a precarious position, as there is an international boycott on Israeli goods that are produced in West Bank. While this doesn’t effect the environmental status of the company, it definitely changes my perspective on how sustainable the company is. If we consider the three pillars of sustainability, social sustainability is clearly lacking, in my opinion. In fact, while I have been very happy with my SodaStream in the past, this recent news has made me think more carefully about both SodaStream, and Scarlett Johanson.
Reference: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-06/israeli-exports-sodastream-controversy-draws-attention-to-boycott
Hey Jen! Awesome Post.
I really liked the commercial, and just like you— having the gorgeous Scarlett Johansen talk about the product, definitely made me want to buy a
SodaStream. However, I do feel a tad confused on where the product stands in terms of perception in my mind. As you had mentioned, you did more research and found that the taste was not as good as Pop, therefore wouldn’t be a good substitute. But from the commercial it doesn’t look like they are necessarily going for the “Green aspect,” of things either. The product package doesn’t stand out too crazy and in my opinion with the commercial ending in ” Sorry Coke and Pepsi,” that made me associate their product with BEING a competitor of coke, despite them being a completely different, healthier more sustainable product, with that last tagline– the association with the brand for me was negative.
The only thing the brand so far (for me) has done is persuade me by using social pop cultural trends using someone famous to promote it, but it leads no place on the green scale in my mind, nor is it recognized as a great tasting product.
Social trends change, therefore I think they should have positioned their product differently in order to be sustainable for the long run. After all, if you “Try and say your everything, in the end you’ll be known for nothing.”
Just my two cents 🙂
Hi Jennifer,
First of all, I really enjoyed your post, and I’m thoroughly surprised that SodaStream was founded in 1903! No idea that it was actually such a long established company.
Anyhow, I think any brand of pop drink that isn’t a part of the PepsiCo or Coca Cola Company is going to have a difficult time trying edge into the market, especially when it requires investing in an actual machine. Unless SodaStream also gives off that same ‘pop’ taste, which your research has indicated it doesn’t, I don’t think it’ll have much of a following, even if it is encouraging pop drinkers to go green. Like you said, if it doesn’t taste great, than green might not matter much.
I think where this product would work though is if it didn’t just offer a ‘greener’ alternative to pop, but also other kinds of sweet/sugary drinks. This way it would cater to more than just the pop drinking market and would become more of a universal product for ‘drink production’. I think the concept of an easy to use, affordable, and green product that makes drinks is a brilliant idea that could work for the masses, but SodaStream is just limited in terms of what it’s able to offer. I agree the video is a great use of viral marketing though, it seems to make everyone curious about the product! 🙂