The Super Bowl is arguably one of the biggest moments of the year for major brands and corporations to launch a mass marketing strategy, ad or campaign that boasts potential to rake in tons of positive publicity—a high stakes and high cost venture that companies like Doritos and Budweiser receive rave reviews for year after year.
Poppi, branded as a low-cal modern soda, has made a name for itself as of late as a healthy alternative to traditional soda brands. This year, the company committed to the approximately $8 million cost of a brief Super Bowl ad for the 59th iteration of the championship game. Enter the controversy.
The ad itself, “Soda Thoughts,” wasn’t the fire starter for the Poppi brand—that came in the form of a preliminary marketing campaign. The campaign in question, which involved shipping empty vending machines and dozens of sodas to a select lineup of 32 social media influencers to showcase on their personal pages, ended up catching major backlash rather than prospective prebiotic soda customers.
That frustration fizzled over from a few standpoints, with many people wondering why Poppi would spend what’s speculated to be about $25,000 per vending machine on influencers rather than placing them at universities or in hospitals, for example. It also resulted in many flocking to support Poppi’s direct competitors instead.
The social media soda fiasco wasn’t the only marketing that viewers say missed the mark in terms of tone and audience—with Super Bowl ads from companies such as Hims & Hers and Tubi also garnering some not-so-positive discourse online.
These less than superb Super Bowl ads and campaigns once again highlight how important it is to not only know your audience–but to constantly make conscious communications choices that align with your brand while considering how the messaging might land.
Need help crafting a compelling communications strategy for your company? Give our past blogs a read for some free intel—or shoot an email to monty@rlfcommunications.com for more information about partnering with RLF.
By: Anna Beth Adcock
