Gatorade Ad Analysis

Powerade and Gatorade are two very successful companies; in some ways, they?re alike and in other areas, they are very different. To compare and contrast these companies, we?re going to look at a television commercial advertising they?ve each produced. Each of these commercials involve basketball as their sporting backdrop, but more importantly, both commercials utilize the rhetorical triangle: Ethnos, Pathos, and Logic. These three things are used to persuade the audience.

Since its release in 1979, the classic Coca-Cola commercial “Hey kid, catch!” featuring Mean Joe Greene has been a fan favorite and often referred to as one of the most memorable commercials of all time. However, I believe that a new champion in the world of sports commercials has arisen. The 2016 Gatorade commercial, “Let it Shine”, has what it takes to become one of the all-time greats in advertisement. Mean Joe has held the title for many years; but I believe it is time for a new king to be crowned.

Advertising is much more complicated that people realize. There are many different ways that brands advertise to us. Sometimes if the brand is viewed in a negative light, or they are a new brand, the company will try to turn around their image by using things in their commercials that everyone likes in order to reach the widest range of people. Brands that everyone already has a positive opinion of do something similar, but to a lesser degree, because

She is also holding a donut in her second hand and is in the process of dunking the chocolate icing donut into the cup. The man is also good looking and has dark brown hair that is neatly groomed. He is smiling and has white straight teeth just as the woman does. He has some light facial hair otherwise known as “scruff” that appeals to some women as being sexy. Neither him nor the woman have any imperfections on their skin and are both very nicely dressed and neatly groomed. This advertisement portrays how couples supposedly act in society because isn’t everyone perfect? I think not. Kilbourne also explains how advertisements tend to portray a perfect couple or a perfect moment in time that normally would not happen, just as shown in this ad (Killing Us Softly). The advertisement in the Sports Illustrated ad is a bit different, or should I say, a lot different. The ad portrays four friends sitting in a car. There is a Caucasian male and female and an African American male and female. Neither of the African Americans are very dark which Kilbourne also mentions is very common among advertisement agencies. They are all smiling and appearing to be having an amazing and fun time. The Caucasian male is sitting in the front seat of the car and wearing sunglasses while holding two thumbs up. The African American male has his arms wrapped around the African American female and Caucasian male. The Caucasian female is

Gatorade also targets average citizens who are physically active. During commercial breaks, Gatorade is always broadcasting their product, not only is Gatorade advertised on television, but they also advertise their products on the sidelines of professional sports teams by having large jugs and Gatorade cups on the sideline that is often shown during timeouts. As result, Gatorade advertisement is a success, because when going to buy a sports drink they’re going to remember that Dwayne Wade or whoever their favorite professional athlete drinks

Representations of men in media have a different approach—they tend to focus on strength, power, physique, independence, etc… The first ad portrays a clearly athletic, strong, male individual. His expression is one of determination and focus—He’s not going to let anyone get in his way. He is aggressive, and overflowing with testosterone. It is unclear what the product is, something to do with athletic performance. The next image is fitted with the caption “Always A Champion”, making it simple to realize this ad is all about the male ego. This man has a very intimidating expression, one of strength and—almost anger. His positioning shows off his clearly muscular arms and his aura is almost overpowering. In both images, the idea that a true man should be strong, aggressive, etc… is presented. For any normal male individual viewing this ad, he would feel like that is what he should be—if he was a “real man”.

The target audience for Gatorade is for athletes, but this commercial does a great job of reaching out to a wide range of athletes. The advertisement targets athletes of the older generation, along with athletes that are young. Gatorade uses two retired players, Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan, along with two players nearing the end of their careers, Eli Manning and Serena Williams, and three players that are currently in their prime, Kyle Schwarber, Matt Ryan, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The different ages in the commercial are extremely effective because athletes that would be interested in Gatorade’s products vary in age, and Gatorade had to appeal to all generations of athletes. Also, the inclusion of Serena Williams can appeal to the female athletes that view the

Gatorade used ‘Float’ commercials, which features sportsmen and women such as NBA’s Dwayne Wade and gymnast Chellsie Memmel. The advertising repeats Mohammed Ali’s Quote “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” which supports the brand slogan in a way that floating portrays lightness in calories and sting like a bee portrays the ability to accurately hit performance targets. By employing high repetitions of advertisements during sports events such as Super bowl, the most watched event in US TV, they ensure high exposure to their brand thereby increasing awareness & recall of G2.

But the message that Gatorade is promoting is a notice of encouragement to young women with the help of Serena and her baby girl. To her this message is important.

However, these ads all come with their flaws and fall short in some areas. First, the drawings and the video did not have the best aesthetics. While aesthetics are not considered a rhetorical device, it is something the audience may consider when viewing the advertisement. In some of the advertisements, the visuals were not the most visually appealing and some lacked color. While it could be argued that the lack of color in favor of a white background, such as those in the Billboard and Magazine Advertisements is part of color choice, it does not effectively convey the message of the advertisement campaign. White suggests purity, which is not the main focus or purpose of the ad campaign. The video also lacked some aesthetics that came as a result of classroom limitations. We couldn’t go outside and use an actual setting for the video, which made the audience have to picture certain things such as a car driving and doors closing. While this limitation did impair some of the visuals, the purpose of the advertisement was still clear and the audience was still able to understand the situation. Another aspect that the campaign fell short was the use of rhetorical devices in the magazine ad. While the ad is still considerably interesting and displays the product, there is a lack of

Because the advertisement was aired five months after the September 11 incident, there were intense emotions among the American citizens. Budweiser was aware of this and created a commercial with strong emotional appeals. With pathos loaded, the advertisement seems to appeal to the viewer’s emotional senses. In the beginning, a character in the form of a man is fascinated by the horses. The image of the horses is reflected in the glasses of the windows. Business takes place in this area, but he takes a break from all the activities to watch the passing horses because of the awe factor that the Clydesdales stimulates. Thus, as an audience, I will resonate with the man by showing the same reaction. The behaviors of the man are expected to the audience how they should react as well. They are expected to stop every activity they were performing and understand the powerful message conveyed by the majestic creatures.

In the commercial, “Peyton Manning-Gatorade Commercial” the enterprise of Gatorade relates the drink to the NFL. The advertisement relates to every athlete and every sport but specially the NFL. Peyton Manning, who is a quarterback and is one of the greatest in the

The 1947 Campbell soup ad was able to relate to its viewers by depicting a young married couple. In the late 1940's and 1950's it was important to marry young. Women were pressured to marry at a young age and become a homemaker; taking care of their husband, house and children were their top priority. The husband is coming home from work, presumably an office based on his suit. His wife is able to anticipate his needs and have dinner started before he gets home.

"Image is nothing, thirst is everything." This is a slogan used by the soft drink Sprite. It tells a consumer not to buy a product because of the labeling, packaging, or the way it is presented, but to instead buy it because it tastes good. This seems to be an honest and open statement, not what you would expect to hear in an advertisement. Ironically though, just before this slogan flashes on the screen, Kobe Bryant and Grant Hill, two of the NBA's rising starts, are shown talking about how wonderful Sprite is. This slogan contradicts what the rest of the advertisement says, and it contradicts what the advertisement industry tries to do in general. The use of sports icons in advertisements for the food industry, especially those

Gatorade has emerged as the global leader in sports nutrition beverages by continually managing their brand to signify high energy, athletic excellence combine with one of the most efficient new product development and introduced processes in the beverage industry. As a result of being able to consistently synchronize these many components of their business so well, Gatorade today holds a 75% market share in the sports nutrition market globally today. Gatorade is owned by PepsiCo, which has made it possible for the company to sell in 80 countries today. Gatorade relies heavily on the PepsiCo distribution and retail network globally. Gatorades' revolutionary approach to managing branding for beverages has served to increase the total market size for this product category globally (Huang, Sarigöllü, 2012). Despite the continued widespread adoption of Gatorade as a healthy energy drink, the company has encountered resistance to its brand and the ingredients used for creating the many variations of Gatorade energy drinks (Tallon, 2009). Despite these setbacks the Gatorade brand continues to experience exceptional growth and stability over time.