SodaStream has announced that it will run an interim advert, entitled ‘Bubble Blackout’, while it awaits the verdict from Clearcast on its current global advert that has been banned from broadcast in the UK.
Airing tonight (Thursday 29 November) during ITV1’s ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here’ the interim advert invites people to view the banned advert on YouTube, delivering the message that SodaStream will not be silenced. The brand’s original advert was set to air in the UK last Thursday but was banned at the eleventh hour by Clearcast.
Speaking to The Drum earlier in the week a spokesperson for Clearcast said: “SodaStream submitted an ad last week which we were unable to clear on denigration grounds. If they can address those concerns, they will also need to support claims made in the ad.”
The 30-second ad spot was created in-house and produced by the team at Unit TV, containing just three frames and set to the banned ads soundtrack the advert begins with SodaStream’s new strapline “If you love the bubbles set them free”, followed by the SodaStream logo. The final frame shows a YouTube logo with the text “The SodaStream Effect” and a QR code with leads to the banned advert on SodaStream’s YouTube channel.
SodaStream described the decision to ban the original ad as ‘absurd’, and has appealed this verdict with the final appeal process taking place on Monday 3 December.
UK managing director of SodaStream, Fiona Hope, commented: “We've made it very clear that we think the decision to ban our global ad is ridiculous. We would still like to allow UK viewers the chance to see our advert that has been aired across many other countries. We are confident that the British consumer is sophisticated enough to recognize that the "Blackout Bubble" is only a filler ad and that we’re inviting them to see the real advert on YouTube and decide for themselves whether a ban is justified."
“We’re confident that this is just an interim solution and the decision will be overturned in early December when the media owners have their say at the appeal, so we can revert to our original global advert.
“There is absolutely nothing disparaging in our original campaign as we do not mention or show a competitive brand. Our banned advert is simply a call-to-action to British consumers to consider reducing their use of plastic bottles that are so hazardous to our environment. Every day, 35 million bottles are discarded in the UK, and only around 45% are recycled. In this day and age it makes no sense to hold back the truth from consumers, even if that truth isn't comfortable to some of us"