SodaStream goes all in on ‘pride month
The maker of a popular home carbonation product produced a gushing animated commercial spot to make a pro-LGBT statement during pride month.
“Bubbles are best enjoyed with the ones you love,” SodaStream USA tweeted about its commercial. “Check out our lovely, limited edition Pride Packs for a pop of color. #SodaStream #PrideMonth.”
It opens with a man and a woman at a park, each with a child, and the setup infers they are there together. Against a backdrop of sentimental music, the man and the woman push the children on the park’s swings as the kids shout for joy.
@SodaStreamUSA 🌈 Bubbles are best enjoyed with the ones you love. Check out our lovely, limited edition Pride Packs for a pop of color. #SodaStream #PrideMonth
Next is a trip to the ice cream shop and more cheers, before a dog takes a child’s ice cream and the other child falls down, so both need the comfort of a parent.
The man and the woman along with their respective child then return to neighboring homes, outside of which their respective same-sex partners await, waving happily to see them. The adults in each same-sex couple kiss the child they are holding on their front steps before then kissing each other.
Heart symbols abound in the spot, on the swing set, in the shape of the children’s balloons and shooting off into the air after each adult character gives a kiss.
The spot ends with a shot of SodaStream’s Home is Where Your Love Is Pride Packs, which are bottles containing images of the respective same-sex couple-led families in its cartoon ad.
Before the commercial cuts to the company’s Pride Packs, the animated shot pulls back to show four more houses on the street behind the two in the ad, and now the six homes display a different colored roof to include the colors of the rainbow.
The word “stream” in the SodaStream logo is also shown in rainbow colors at the end. At the time of publication, most of the comments on the tweet sharing the commercial were negative.
SodaStream International Ltd. Is based in Israel and makes the home carbonation product of the same name. The device carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water to drink.
Its parent company is PepsiCo.
SodaStream has produced a non-animated pro-LGBT advertisement as well.
The “Imagine a World” commercial opens with the text of the statement, “Imagine a world where we never had to hide,” and then beginning in 1912, travels through the decades since with various same-sex couples kissing or otherwise showing affection. The commercial concludes with a historic photo from of a gay activist parade before then stating “Love is Love.”
In one of the vignettes, there is a bride and groom. The bride played by Lila Blilat, “a transgender woman from the Bedouin town of Rahat, Israel, near SodaStream’s factory,” according to the marketing and media publication The Drum.
“It’s a dream come true for me to have been chosen to be a picture-perfect beautiful bride in a global campaign,” Blilat told the outlet. “It gives me the strength to continue to fight to be myself and to help others do the same. I truly believe this video helps share love.”
“SodaStream is a business that has a focus on inclusion and has consistently shown support for all people, no matter their origin, religion, gender or sexual preference – of course, this extends to the LGBTQ+ community around the world,” said Matti Yahav, chief marketing officer of SodaStream. “We love to take part in every opportunity to support equality and inclusion.”
Each June, more companies have fallen in line with the pride month narrative and in some way encompassed LGBT-affirming marketing of their products.
