In recent years, the soft drink market has seen an influx in gut-healthy sodas. While they have taken over social media, they have not gone about it in the most beneficial way. 

With brands like Culture Pop, Olipop and Poppi adding to the internet’s health craze, there have been big moves from their marketing teams that have been more than questionable. 

At the beginning of 2025, Poppi decided to send stocked vending machines to prevalent influencers around the country to promote their products. While the vending machines are over the top and creating conversation, not all of the conversations have been good. 

These machines have been rumored to cost over $25,000 per machine, and while the brand has debunked that claim they have still not released how much the true cost was. It is already an egregious amount of money to be spending on an ad campaign that serves fewer people than it benefits. Not only are they obnoxiously large, but they have been sent to influencers who are making more than enough money from their content creation. This has sent a message to consumers that the brand cares less about the majority of their customers and is much more consumed with creating a high brand profile for themselves. 

Many who have commented on the situation have said that the machines should be sent to teachers, students or healthcare workers around the U.S. so they can give back to those who are working with almost no benefits and menial pay. This has sparked much more controversy than the brand had anticipated. 

This was a marketing plan to promote their drink during the Super Bowl and in the wake of this controversy the brand owner and co-founder, Allison Ellsworth, made a statement saying that the thought behind who they were sending the machines to was for influencers who were hosting watch parties for the big game. 

While the thought is there, the tone-deaf aspect of this campaign rings true when they claim that they have always wanted to be accessible to everyone while making their brand seem more exclusive to those who are already in a higher tax bracket. 

More often than not, brands have been seen sending packages to promote their brands to influencers so those who post about it are spreading the word about their products. While in the past these brands have sent out branded sweatshirts or skincare products, there haven’t been many brands who have gone to this extreme.

The ploy of buying Poppi has always been to promote gut health while getting more people to take a step away from the sugary sodas that have ruled the soft drink market for decades. These drinks have taken over the health-crazed internet and more and more young people have been contributing to the trend of these drinks. While Poppi is not the only brand who have sent gifts out to influencers, they have been the ones to make the biggest move in the wrong direction with their message. 

If they truly wanted to make a better name for themselves they could have installed these free vending machines in schools or hospitals around the country for those who are working on Super Bowl Sunday and don’t have the opportunity to be with friends and family. 

They could have taken this idea of the vending machine and brought themselves into a whole new market of being a brand for the people who are devoting their lives to helping others. This would perfectly coincide with their brand message of health and happiness starting from the inside. 

While the spokespeople for the brand have made it a point to acknowledge the downfalls of this campaign, they have also doubled down in defending their idea which has not worked in their favor, leaving more people to criticize them for their poor decision-making and not owning up to their flaws. 

Brands don’t have to cater to a whole population and most of the time they have an extremely specific audience that they will try and target in their first years of starting up. This helps them grow as a brand and bring in new customers slowly while they are growing. 

Brands truly need to stay away from doing these types of marketing ploys for consumers because it ends up leaving a bad taste in the mouths of their present and now possible future customers. This could sway people to start purchasing from competitor brands in the already competitive field that they are working in. If Poppi keeps up this type of marketing, then they will lose their valued customers to the smaller brands that they are in direct competition with. 

Olipop has already taken to their TikTok comments on the posts about the vending machines to point out the flaws and faults in this campaign strategy which has made more people switch from one bubbly brand to another. 

Both of these sodas have the same end goal and mission statement of offering healthier options to individuals who don’t only want to drink water or juice. They have made shockingly similar products that mimic the large soda companies but with more health benefits so they have been the biggest names in this industry since their start. 

With Poppi being founded in 2015 and Olipop following right behind in 2018, the two have been fighting against each other and with mistakes like this being made, there might not be much of a fight in the future and leave the market with a real winner.