Is ScarJo’s brand scarred by SodaStream Stunt?

Super Bowl advertisers beware: the game has changed forever, and we’re not talking football. SodaStream’s PR placements utilizing the ‘Sorry Coke and Pepsi’ outtakes barred by FOX for the on-air Super Bowl spot have already garnered this company exponential media value.

Whether or not it was a planned media stunt, releasing the story days prior to the Super Bowl will have viewers in every living room saying “Hey, this is the commercial that was supposed to say ‘Sorry Coke and Pepsi’” as soon as they see the stunning Scarlett Johansson come onto their screen.

FOX banning the competitors’ mentions put SodaStream right in the middle of the marketing industry’s sacred Cola Wars – and for a fraction of what the two brands have invested.

Do you think that ScarJo and her agent were complicit in this unconventional move that inextricably entwined the PR and advertising disciplines?  Or, was she a naïve participant in a PR stunt that could impact her brand?

Betty Tuppeny is CEO and Co-Founder of the 20-year-old Domus, Inc. She has taught Strategic Positioning and Branding to post-graduate students at NYU and the University of Pennsylvania and serves on a variety of public boards, having studied this specialization at Harvard Business School. For more information on Domus, Inc. – a full service marketing communications firm that is Built for the Client™ – contact Betty Tuppeny at btuppeny@domusinc.com.