SodaStream’s CEO on Turning a Banned Super Bowl Ad into Marketing Gold

hbr.org - Photography: Jonathan Bloom/Getty Global Assignment The Idea: SodaStream was near bankruptcy when Birnbaum joined it, in 2007. He believed that the carbonated beverage industry was ripe for disruption—and that meant going after Coke and Pepsi. What happened was a big surprise. During the 2013 Super Bowl, I was on an airplane en route to a business meeting, so I didn’t watch the game. But back in Israel, where our company is headquartered, a group of SodaStream executives got together at a bar to watch.