SodaStream International Ltd., which creates sparkling water is fighting with the bottled water industry to shed light on plastic bottle pollution and advocates for using tap water as an alternative to disposable plastics by a new viral campaign based on “Game of Thrones.” “Shame or Glory” has netted over 50 million views and has been supported by celebrities and environmentally minded NGOs globally. The campaign has also faced some backlash from bottled water “front groups” that have taken issue with the campaign, according to a press release.
“During the past several days, SodaStream has received no fewer than six cease and desist letters from bottled water “front groups” that have taken issue with the campaign,” the press release explained. “The first such letter came from France, signed by Denis Cans, the CEO of Nestlé Waters, France, on behalf of the French National Federation of Packaged and Bottled Water.”
“The subsequent letters from the U.S.-based International Bottled Water Association and other European-based industry groups are all similar in content, reflecting the orchestrated nature of this attack aimed at trying to protect the huge and lucrative global $150 billion plastic bottled water industry,” the release added.
DIVERGE talked to SodaStream’s CEO Daniel Birnbaum to find out more:
Where did the idea for “Shame or Glory” come from?
We wanted to dramatize the hazard of plastic bottles vs. the more sensible approach of just using tap water. We challenged our creative agency, Allenby Concept House, to come up with storyboards. That’s where the hilarious idea to parody an iconic scene from Game of Thrones that would demonstrate the shameful use of plastic bottles came from.
What kind of response/feedback has it gotten?
The video has gone organically viral and has been viewed more than 50 million times. Consumers all over the world loved it and shared it widely, which triggered many discussion groups about the global pollutioncreated by disposable plastic bottles. Among other highlights, the video was rated of AdAge’s top 5 viral videos of the week. In Israel, where SodaStream is based, the video was rated by the prestigious Globes Financial Journal as video of the month. Clearly we struck a chord also with the culprits because following the dramatic success of the campaign all around the world, we got bombarded with cease and desist letters from various trade organizations of the bottled water industry. The first of six letters came from the office of Nestle Waters CEO in France, Denius Cans, on behalf of the National Federation of Bottled Water in France. We know this is a well-coordinated global attack on SodaStream, orchestrated by Nestle, and a desperate attempt to intimidate and silence us. But SodaStream refuses to back down from the campaign and from our mission to help people embrace their natural, safe and economic tap water. We will not be gagged because the truth needs to be told – that the bottled water industry has got to be the biggest marketing and advertising lie of all time. The trusth is that consumers can get the water without the bottle. The truth is that disposable plastic bottles are one of the greatest hazards to our planet and to humankind.
How has interaction been?
SodaStream regularly disrupts the category with big global initiatives focused on the environmental benefits of the brand. Shame or Glory is the latest such global campaign that was recently launched in dozen of markets around the world. Like “Heavy Bubbles” before it, “Shame or Glory” is a disruptive environmental campaign. Shame or Glory highlights plastic bottle pollution and advocates for the use of tap water to make sparking water as an alternative to disposable disposable plastics.
We are thrilled to to have been warmly embraced by the global Game of Thrones community. It’s largely based on the reaction to our first video with heavy bubbles is how we got inspired to bring on this next parody.
What kind of feedback have you received?
The launch of the campaign has been met positively by consumers globally. Clearly we struck a chord with some of those viewers since to date we have received six cease and desist letters from various trade organizations that front for the bottled water industry. We feel this is a coordinated global attack led by Nestle. The letters attest that the ad is defaming, as plastic bottles are recyclable, and that “Shame or Glory” is misrepresentative. We boldly disagree — the ad is certainly shameful, but only to the large water bottle companies who make billions of dollars in profit while defacing our planet deserve, so yes they are being shamed. SodaStream refuses to back down from the ad and our mission to help people embrace their tap water so that they can pick “glory.”
Have most people been choosing shame or glory?
Most people who enter our shameorglory.net website have been choosing “shame”. We are actually pleased that about 90% of the viewers are interested to learn about the hazard of disposable plastic bottles. Interesting to see that we have more entries from Germany, the UK, Australia and Israel (a population of only 8 million people) than we have from the United States. This is intriguing and I hope it doesn’t speak to the involvement and attitude that the US consumer has toward the environment. We believe that the brainwash from the bottled water industry in the US has been so severe that the American consumer is somewhat numb to the hazard and satisfied with recycling, which we now know does little to reduce the hazard. In fact, the Carbon Trust did research that shows that recycling a plastic bottle only reduced its carbon footprint by only 20%, so we’re all left with 80% of the hazard. In a perfect world, these bottles would be illegal.
Has Sodastream done similar campaigns like this before?
Yes. We look to our agency partners to create campaigns that will disrupt the space and get our message across. Shame or Glory was not the first time we worked with Game of Thrones actor, Thor Bjornsson. For April Fools’ Day, we worked with Allenby to create a “faux-mercial” for Thor’s own fake “brand” of sparkling water, called “Heavy Bubbles” which came in 2 kilo, 5 kilo, and 10 kilo barbell sizes. We released the faux commercial at the start of the day on April first, and let it percolate for awhile, until we finally revealed that it was in fact a hoax in a second, uncut version at the close of business the same day. It was the most successful April fools hoax of 2016 and it’s been viewed more than 40 million times globally.
