SodaStream Calls an Audible

It wouldn't be a new SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA  ) commercial without a little last-minute controversy.

CBS (NYSE: CBS  ) rejected the Super Bowl ad that SodaStream was hoping to introduce during this weekend's Super Bowl broadcast.

The spot that the company behind the fast-growing soft drink system was hoping to air was a spin on the old PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP  ) ads where Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) delivery drivers take to sipping Pepsi beverages.

Hopefully SodaStream will take a page out of the GoDaddy playbook and eventually release the banned ad on YouTube, but for now it will have to settle for a slightly tweaked version of its current spot featuring exploding soda bottles.

"We are trying to take it to a more provocative level and we probably went too far for Super Bowl standards," Ilan Nacasch -- SodaStream's chief marketing officer -- told The Wall Street Journal.

There's nothing wrong with a little controversy. Companies are reportedly paying a record $3.7 million to $3.8 million for each 30-second spot in this weekend's broadcast, and SodaStream may be the smallest of all advertisers this year. SodaStream -- with its $1 billion market cap and roughly $508 million in projected revenue this year -- will need to get more bang out of its marketing buck than Coke and Pepsi do.

Rejected ads can be a blessing. SodaStream's commercial that was banned in the United Kingdom back in November has now been streamed nearly 2.6 million times on YouTube.

Even if it settles for a tweaked version of its "SodaStream Effect" spot -- the one that disses Coke and Pepsi by pointing out how one SodaStream system can spare the planet 2,000 trashed bottles a year -- it will now be generating more carbonated buzz.

"Did you know that the ad that these guys wanted to run was rejected by CBS last week?" a buddy may tell his friends.

It's a smart way to draw attention and milk more value out of a costly Super Bowl commercial.

Get busy with the fizzy
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