Quite aside from this high-profile collision between fizzy drinks and disputed territory, SodaStream is bubbling up everywhere at the moment. In Britain, it's sponsoring The Jump on Channel 4 and has been named a "Cool Brand" by a panel including Plan B. Not bad for a company peddling posh squash and gas cylinders.
"SodaStream managed to turn itself around," says Andy Morton, a reporter at Just-drinks, a global beverages news service. "It started in Britain, but is now a completely Israeli company and is getting traction in the world market."
The machine adds effervescence and flavour to water and reduces plastic bottle use. The company has 25 production facilities around the globe, with locations in the United States, Australia, China and Sweden.
While SodaStream's products are non-alcoholic, the company's roots are rather more intoxicating. Founded in 1903 by London gin distiller Guy Hugh Gilbey, it started out making apparatus for "aerating liquid" that allowed butlers to create their own soda water for the chattering classes.
In 1928, it was given the stamp of approval by Edward VIII, who had a machine named after him (the Prince of Wales machine). The Royal Navy put the company's machines on its ships and the first at-home SodaStream machine was released in 1955 with 14 flavoured syrups to go with it. SodaStream reached its peak in the 70s, thanks to a TV advert starring Tommy Cooper.
It was bought by Cadbury Schweppes in 1985 which in 1997 sold it to Israeli company Soda Club, which in 2003 moved one of the company's factories from Peterborough to Germany.
But it wasn't until 2007 that it got its fizz back, when the Fortissimo private-equity fund acquired Soda Club and a man called Daniel Birnbaum became CEO of SodaStream.
A self-styled abolitionist of the bottle- and can-based beverage industry, Birnbaum relaunched SodaStream in 2009.
He told Forbes magazine that "in 50 years, you won't drink out of a plastic bottle", because they are disastrous for the environment.
But last month, SodaStream issued a profit warning, cutting its forecast for this year. It expects net income to be US$41.5 million ($51 million), down from a previous target of US$54 million.
And that Scarlett Johansson video, meant to go out during the Super Bowl and proclaim the company's eco-credentials, has been banned as it mentions rivals Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
"The company's biggest challenge is still cracking the US market," says Morton.
Europe accounts for 52 per cent of SodaStream's sales and it's big in Sweden, with around 20 per cent of households owning one.
Morton adds: "SodaStream claims to rival Coke and Pepsi but it is tiny in comparison. One way to change this is to present itself as the underdog.
"So perhaps being banned from the Super Bowl is good, because an online viral campaign could be more powerful. Its target market is families, but kids have to want it."
No doubt SodaStream will drink to that.
- Independent
