Fizzy water maker SodaStream returns to Super Bowl with ‘water on Mars’ ad
Spot to air during Sunday game, featuring US scientist Bill Nye and 18-year-old US astronaut-in-training Alyssa Carson
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
For the first time since 2014 Israel’s fizzy water maker SodaStream will return to the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the US National Football League, this time with an ad that shows astronauts finding water on Mars.
The ad, released to the press by SodaStream, will be aired during the game on Sunday (early Monday, Israel time), immediately prior to halftime, and features US scientist Bill Nye of The Planetary Society and 18-year-old US astronaut-in-training Alyssa Carson, who could be one of the first on Mars in the early 2030s.
US beverage giant PepsiCo in 2018 acquired SodaStream, an Israeli firm, for $3.2 billion in one of the largest buyouts in Israel’s history, in a bid to offer healthier and more environmentally friendly products.
SodaStream, a maker of machines that carbonate home tap water in reusable bottles, has positioned itself as a brash David providing a healthier alternative to the drinks offered by its Goliath competitors, like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo itself, which use massive amounts of sugar and sell their products in planet-killing plastic bottles.
SodaStream’s 2014 Super Bowl ad featured American actress Scarlett Johansson, who came under fire from the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for becoming a brand ambassador for the Israeli firm. SodaStream became a target of the pro-Palestinian campaign over the location of its factory in the West Bank, before moving to a location inside the Green Line several years ago.
The 2020 commercial is directed by Bryan Buckley, who has directed more than six dozen Super Bowl ads. SodaStream also worked with Goodby Silverstein & Partners on the campaign.