Imagine that you’ve been given the assignment to develop ideas for commercials starring the greatest athlete in the world.
Not only is your star unsurpassed in athletic prowess, but he’s also handsome, charming, adored by fans, respected by his peers (yet one of the guys), great with kids and funny. The product you’re selling is one that the star really uses and likes and, if that weren’t enough, it actually relates to sports. The possibilities of creating truly memorable advertising would appear to be infinite.
Yet Quaker Oats Co. and Chicago ad agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker have managed to make the latest Gatorade commercials starring Michael Jordan as dull and lifeless as a pain-reliever ad.
It’s not Jordan’s fault. The problem is what he’s asked to do.
MJ was fabulous for Nike as the newly retired superstar trading barbs with working stiff Charles Barkley and arguing over which one went bald first. And when he challenged Larry Bird to the ultimate shot-making contest for a McDonald’s Big Mac, the chemistry was electric.
This spring’s simple Ball Park franks spot in which Jordan delights a young fan with a hot dog is captivating because it plays up one of the things that Jordan does best. And the local Chevy dealers use Jordan effectively when he doesn’t have to say a word-he just looks totally cool.
But Jordan delivers straight ad copy about as well as he hits a fastball. And though the new Gatorade spots are among the first commercial efforts to show the Birmingham Barons rookie in uniform, they don’t capture any of the emotion that makes Michael’s foray into baseball the unique venture it is.
Quaker and the ad agency seem to approach the selling of Gatorade in the manner of a traditional package-goods marketer selling an everyday product.
With new competition from beverage powerhouses such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, the game is changing. Pepsi’s All Sport spots with Shaquille O’Neal are as imaginative, exciting and expensive as anything the company’s done for Pepsi. And with the same target audience as many soda commercials-young men 14 to 24-Gatorade could get lost in the shuffle.
Gatorade still is the dominant brand among sports drinks, with about 80 percent to 85 percent share of a $1 billion category. At one time, before the competition made inroads with new brands, Gatorade had as much as 95 percent of what was then a smaller total category.
Quaker’s strategy in these commercials is to show “the appropriateness of Gatorade for whatever Jordan is involved in,” said spokeswoman Patti Sinopoli.
The company’s consumer research, she said, shows that Jordan’s “new career is something many of them can relate to. They admire his tenacity, that he’s trying and he’s doing something he loves.”
Interspersed with black-and-white, grainy footage of a Bulls game and new film of Jordan playing baseball, Jordan looks almost embarrassed as he tries to get through the sales pitch.
“When I played basketball, I always wanted the ball. And I got it where it should go,” Jordan says in the first spot, which made its debut on the July 12 Major League All-Star Game. “And I always drank Gatorade, ’cause nothing’s better. Now I’m playing baseball. I still drink Gatorade, I still want the ball. And I still know where it should go. And sooner or later, I’m gonna get it there. I hope. It’s gotta be Gatorade.”
Thank heavens for Jordan’s self-effacing manner and heart-melting smile. That combination, surfacing in the last seconds of the spot, save it from total disaster.
