SodaStream Ad Pulled: Fair or Foul?

  I just recently read an article on the guardian website that talked about the ad for "SodaStream"  being pulled in the UK by the broadcasting company, Clearcast, for apparent violations that denigrated other soft drink industries. Alright...so I have seen the ads before here in the United States and I instantly made some remarks when viewed them. If you have not seen the ads before it pretty much shows the SodaStream product being used by people and while they use it simultaneously shows brands of at giant warehouses exploding everywhere, displaying that with SodaStream you can save 1,000 bottles per year. Before I get into if this ad is fair or foul I would like to point out how effective this ad was. Going off Kellog's ADPLAN, the ad right off the bat grabbed my attention for essentially what the product is, the sleek design, and the content of the advertisement (exploding bottles). It obviously is distinct from competition because now you can make soda from your own home. I can easily link the message to the brand. Consumers and officials have already been talking about the message because now there is controversy surrounding it and I believe the brand equity is improving because of it.
   Now with all that being said, I think that this Ad was defiantly foul. After viewing the commercial my exact quote out loud was, "Doesn't that eliminate a lot of jobs?" The people at Clearcast believed that SodaStream violated rule 3.42 stating,"Advertisements most not discredit or denigrate another product, advertiser or advertisement or a trade name or distinguishing remark." SodaStream clearly was not happy about this and thought the ad was just fine and that it was showing the benefits it gives to the environment. I think that's all fine and dandy, but I think it still hides the truths of eliminating jobs and tarnishing brand name sodas. I see SodaStream using the "green card" in trying to make an excuse for this sort of potential hostile take over of soft drinks. Will not lie though, the product is pretty damn cool.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2012/nov/23/advertising-itv1