Yup; I would fill a water glass with cold water - run cold water through the filter from the faucet - then let it soak in the water glass for a couple hours before filling the pitcher. Those charcoal filters need to be wet - but they also need to start out life as LOOSE charcoal. Sometimes they've been stored in such a way, that the charcoal clumps - so give it a good shake to loosen the granules up again.
It the end, I gave up on Brita - and am now a fan of Zerowater.