Poppi Listen To Us!

                                         

Most of us know the new "healthy" prebiotic soda on the market. Whether their product actually contains these prebiotics and are gut-healthy already a fight in the news. The brand sparks yet another discussion in the news with their latest marketing scheme.

        As this new brand hit the market; with natural flavors and ingredients, a wide variety of flavors, and most appealing is the prebiotic benefits the product contains, consumers found themselves pleasantly surprised. The company quickly developed its brand kind of became a fad. I too, have fallen victim to the trend and can confirm they are tasty. 

Shortly before the most popular football game in the United States, the Super Bowl, the Poppi marketing team attempts to get their brand out there and share the joy. Not quite in the way they wanted, Poppi got the attention from everyone, even their top competitors, Oli Pop; no one was happy.

   Poppi sent fully stocked vending machines to thirty-two different influencers before the event. Owner, Allison Ellsworth, refutes and attempts to calm down customers after being faced with hate comments. Today News online shares comments like "let's stop with the out of touch please" and " wouldn't this be great to put in the hospital to share with everyone, especially nurses and doctors". Customers were ruthless and even took it to the point of boycotting the brand entirely. Ms. Ellsworth joins the discussion by posting a TikTok addressing the aggression; she states, "Poppi owns the machines and will only be used for the Super Bowl parties, then returned". Oli Pop, the competitor of Poppi, then joined in on the madness, claiming the machines cost twenty-five thousand dollars each, which obviously fueled the fans' fire. Ellsworth claps back by arguing that 25k is not what they cost, and that's about 60% inflated. The Marketing Brew article then shows fans' comments, saying "let the consumers lead the conversation from here". 

This whole back-and-forth between the companies is extremely unprofessional, in my opinion. An owner should not be the one to speak out to the media; simply responding with well-researched and thought-out answers could have avoided some of this drama. On the contrary, the media is a very toxic place. Why do consumers care so much about what a company spends its money on? As a consumer, if you don't like a product, simply find an alternative that is better for you. This current event has shown me truly how much the media can control your business. As technology grows and expands, we have to find a way to please the new market.