Sodastream hires Markson Sparks for PR

The controversial Sodastream display in SA

Max Markson’s publicity company Markson Sparks has picked up home soft drinks brand Sodastream as a new client.

Among the first stunts is the building of a cage exhibit at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne featuring a transparent container full of discarded drinks cans and bottles aimed at highlighting the environmental friendliness of Sodastream.

A similar project in South Africa saw a cease and desist letter from Coca-Cola whose products featured in the display.

Sodastream works by using flavoured concentrate and carbonation.

The PR strategy for Australia appears to be to attempt to provoke a similar confrontation with Coca Cola locally. In the press release from Markson Sparks,  Sodastream’s Australian CEO Matt Gabelich said: ““We will not be silenced.”

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the founder of Mumbrella. At various points he's been editor, content director and editor-at-large of Mumbrella. He's written about media and marketing in Australia, the Middle East and the UK.

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topics Coca ColaMarkson SparksMax MarksonPRpublicity

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Comments: 2

Anonymous 13 Jul 12

SodaStream Australia seem to be behind the eight ball on this one.
By the time they get this up and running the worldwide publicity will have worn off. Unoriginal.

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D1CK0 13 Jul 12

This is terrible. Sodastream are not a challenger brand yet they’re trying to act like one. This smacks of a PR Agency getting attention for the client, but not necessarily the right attention. Surely the appeal of Sodastream is that you can make the drink exactly how you like it, or even combine flavours – not that it doesn’t come in a can. There’s a lot of great work that could be done with the Sodastream brand but this isn’t some of it.

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