Dive Brief:

• SodaStream debuted a new video campaign that focuses on raising awareness about the damage caused by single-use plastic bottles, per a news release provided to Marketing Dive. 
• The video features an animated sea turtle, voiced by Sir Rod Stewart, being carried by Thor “The Mountain” Bjornsson, along with Sarah Catherine Hook and a choir of people and marine animals that have been injured by plastic. The cast sings “Ocean of Change” as they stand on mountains of plastic bottles. 
• The campaign also includes the launch of website FightPlastic.com, where SodaStream is encouraging consumers to take a stand against single-use plastic. 

Dive Insight:

SodaStream's new campaign sets up the brand as an alternative to traditional soda brands by calling out how they promote single-use plastic bottles while one of SodaStream's resuable bottles can eliminate the need for thousands of such bottles. Not only does the ad effectively highlight the issue of plastic pollution through imagery and song but, it also offers a message for a new era in an attempt to cater to the tastes of environmentally conscious consumers.

The campaign’s creative clearly resembles Coke’s iconic "Hilltop" ad from 1971 that showed a diverse cast of people on a bucolic hilltop singing the song “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke," effectively highlighting that era's theme of global harmony. The similarities between the two ads are the latest indication that the soda wars have reignited between Coke and Pepsi. PepsiCo said in April that it was increasing its marketing spend to better compete with Coca-Cola. In August, PepsiCo entered an agreement to acquire SodaStream in an attempt to build out its portfolio with healthier drink options and move beyond its sugary soda base so it can reach healthy-minded consumers. 

SodaStream’s new campaign is timely in that it follows several news reports highlighting the problem of plastic pollution, including environmentalists’ calls to ban plastic straws after a video showing a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose from a few years ago resurfaced recently. SodaStream isn’t the only brand that is attempting to raise awareness for plastic pollution. Beer brand Corona launched a campaign for World Oceans Day in June that included changing its tagline from “This is Living” to “This Is Living?” and “hijacked” its own ads by subbing images of pristine beaches with ones covered in pollution. 

Highlighting SodaStream's environmental message could help the brand attract younger consumers. A growing number of consumers are expecting brands to take a stance on political or social issues and letting that drive their decisions to purchase from or boycott those brands. More than half of teenagers, or 54%, say they have deliberately purchased or stopped purchasing from a brand because of its ethics, according to MediaCom. Also, 85% think brands should minimize their environmental impact.