This article was originally published in February 2025 and was last updated June 12, 2025.
- Tension: Brands chase “authenticity,” but scale erodes it—and audiences notice.
- Noise: Influencer marketing conflates visibility with trust, turning creators into ad inventory.
- Direct Message: Authenticity can’t be mass‑produced—it’s grown through real, human connection.
Learn how we uncover deeper insights with the Direct Message Methodology.
On February 11, 2025, Poppi—known for its prebiotic soda and wellness-forward branding—badly misfired with its Super Bowl campaign.
What seemed like a savvy influencer-focused rollout became a lightning rod for criticism: lavish gifting, tone-deaf optics, and a perceived disconnect from its core audience.
The episode reveals a deeper tension in brand strategy: Is genuine trust built through spectacle or silence?
Poppi’s Gamble: Vending Machines and Viral Pull
In the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX, Poppi sent custom-branded vending machines to top influencers (Alix Earle, Jake Shane, Rob Rausch, among others), reportedly costing around $800K.
The idea: create FOMO, spark organic excitement, and amplify the upcoming “Soda Thoughts” ad during the Big Game.
But what went viral wasn’t the brand, it was the backlash.
Why Moments of Excess Feel Empty
On social media, the campaign quickly became a case study in tone-deaf marketing. Critics asked: why give lavish gifts to affluent creators when everyday communities—teachers, nurses, college students—could benefit more?
One TikToker captured the sentiment: “When it gets too extravagant… it just feels very out of touch.”
Even competitors like Olipop seized the moment. Through cheeky comments on social platforms, they claimed “those machines cost $25K each”—a figure Poppi later called inflated by 60%.
Poppi tried to clarify: the machines were loans, not gifts, with plans for community deployment and public giveaways. But the initial narrative stuck.
The Emotional Undercurrent Behind the Outcry
This wasn’t about soda, it was about equity and optics. In a time of economic unease, audiences aren’t just buying branding—they’re buying—and broadcasting—a brand’s values.
Recent analysis by Boston Brand Media (May 2025) highlights a clear shift: consumers now expect brands—not just products—to demonstrate transparent, consistent behavior, aligning actions with messaging. In a world where marketing is under scrutiny, inconsistency reads as inauthenticity.
Poppi’s mishap highlights how fragile brand trust can be. What feels elite or performative can quickly shift perception from aspirational to alienating.
Where Influencer Marketing Stumbles
Influencer marketing succeeds when audiences perceive sincerity, not scripting.
Poppi had built momentum on TikTok with founder‑led stories, snackable content, and authentic endorsements—including viral stories like their founder’s journey reaching over 121 million views.
But sending vending machines to influencers? That was a spectacle—one that disrupted the alignment between brand and audience.
Overbranding creators turns them into billboards, not voices. Authenticity requires more than reach, it requires resonance.
The Direct Message
You can’t manufacture authenticity at scale—it’s earned slowly, and often in silence.
How Brands Can Relearn Real Influence
Poppi’s saga isn’t just cautionary, it’s instructive. Here’s how to reorient influencer strategy:
- Tune into context over scale.
High-profile bursts may bring attention, but not alignment. Ask yourself: who are we really speaking to? - Center community, not creators alone.
Influencer marketing isn’t only about follower count. Partnerships with micro‑creators and community-focused activations—pop‑ups in schools, clubs, or workplaces—can build trust at scale. - Respond mindfully, not defensively.
Poppi shifted quickly post‑backlash, declining to double down and instead promising broader access. That humility mattered, narrative control is as much about tone as tactics. - Build long‑term trust through consistency.
Authenticity isn’t a campaign, it’s a commitment. Regular listening, founder-led storytelling, and real engagement form reputational capital far more durable than a flashy stunt. - Embrace real ROI, not vanity metrics.
Views and virality fade but trust and equity endure. As Poppi partners with PepsiCo post‑acquisition, its future depends less on reach and more on reputation—earned one quiet interaction at a time.
Final Word
Poppi still has momentum, its acquisition by PepsiCo shows that the market sees value.
But the speed at which a stunt campaign became a flashpoint offers a lasting lesson for brand strategy in 2025: influence isn’t about spectacle.
It’s about slow-building trust—and sometimes, the loudest moves speak the least.
