Futbol Fun: SodaStream Marks 2018 World Cup With Special-Edition Team Bottles

By Simona Shemer, NoCamels June 13, 2018 2 minutes

A soccer ball, courtesy of Pixabay, top, and the special-edition FIFA bottles, courtesy, bottom.

SodaStream, the Israel-based, global company that makes and sells carbonated beverage units across the world, is once again demonstrating its savvy for good PR. After getting in on some of the fun surrounding the wedding of the UK’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last month by auctioning ahead of the nuptials limited-edition bottles sporting miniature “hats” worn at royal events, the company is now setting its sights on another attention-grabbing world event for the summer of 2018 – the 21st FIFA World Cup set to kick off in Russia this week.

SodaStream said that ahead of the start of one of the biggest international sports events of the year, it was launching a series of eco-friendly, special-edition bottles “dressed” in soccer jerseys of national teams popular in Israel, to mark the month-long occasion. The uniforms of the national teams of Argentina, Brazil, and Spain will feature on the bundle of three bottles, with the number of the respective teams’ captains on the back. The bottles will be sold with a special-edition Spirit sparkling water maker (for NIS 299 or $83).

According to FIFA figures published in December 2015, 1.01 billion viewers tuned in to the quadrennial international football tournament in 2014 and over billion people watched the final that year, won by Germany.

In Israel, which last qualified for the World Cup in 1970, the tournament is hugely popular. Spain, Brazil, and Argentina (and others) are some of the favorite teams among Israeli soccer fans, but a recent political crisis may have poured cold water on any Israeli cheers for Buenos Aires. Argentina was set to play a friendly match against the Israeli national team earlier this month, but called off the event after the match was moved from Haifa to Jerusalem, a relocation seen as politically charged. The Argentinian team was also targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ahead of the game. The Argentine Football Association said it canceled the match citing health and safety reasons.

Environmental impact

As with the previous event and others before it, SodaStream is highlighting the environmentally friendly approach to its services as an “innovative alternative to consumers of bottled and canned carbonated soft drinks.”

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When it rolled out the royal wedding bottles, SodaStream donated funds from the auction to the plastic-free charity, Surfers Against Sewage.

“The World Cup edition is a great opportunity to make the tournament-viewing experience enjoyable, festive, colorful and no less important – more eco-friendly,” said SodaStream Israel’s General Manager Tamir Melamud in a statement.

SodaStream said “the use of one soda bottle in Israel is an alternative to 3,833 bottles and disposable cans per family over three years. The special-edition bottles…are reusable and help to preserve the environment.”

SodaStream prides itself on being an environmentally-friendly drinks maker. The company was chosen by a panel of sustainability experts to win Business Intelligence Group’s 2017 Global Corporate Sustainability Award for its line of eco-friendly sparkling water makers and has become an advocate for the discontinuation of plastic bottles within the beverage industry.