You’re dribbling down the court as the sweat drips down your temple, your heart is pounding, and your teammates are anxiously anticipating the ball. You pass to the guard, cut through to the middle and he passes you the ball. As you take one giant leap towards the basket, the center just misses the ball and you put it right in the hoop. Score! The next time out is taken and you jog over to the bench and grab that light blue bottle of Glacier Freeze flavored Gatorade. How refreshing. I think being a consumer of Gatorade products shows how much the people of our culture get caught up in branding. The commercials are so intense and serious, but it’s just a sports drink; it’s not that serious!
Unlike plain old water, Gatorade says something about that person; it’s superior to water. Gatorade says, I am a serious athlete. Similarly to the ipod, Gatorade has an aura. It may not be as common as the ipod’s, but it exists.The brand of Gatorade seems to have snob appeal, since it is the preferred beverage of good athletes (per their commercials and ads). The motto is: is it in you? Whatever it is, kids want that to be like these athletes.
When you see pro athletes drinking Gatorade, it makes the youth of American society want to drink it too. Thus, the branding of Gatorade (and branding in general) has a huge influence on kids, it boosts the Gatorade market, and people establish brand loyalty.
When a kid sees that bottle with the orange cap in a pro athlete’s hand, the kid will want some, because they desire that secret “it” ingredient in Gatorade. Water doesn’t have a catchy slogan or a cool bottle, so why drink it?
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4 comments:
I think it's funny that you chose the light blue bottle of Glacier Freeze flavored Gatorade for your example because that happens to be my favorite! I don't drink Gatorade that often but when I used to play sports, I absolutely loved that flavor of Gatorade the most. I disagree with your theory on why people consume Gatorade products, however. Yes the commercials are intense but that's not what attracted me to Gatorade and neither did the athletes. I drank Gatorade because that's what my coach often supplied us with. I'm saying all this to say that there are probably a lot more things that influence people's decisions to consume Gatorade including taste, availability and many other things.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said "water doesn't have a catchy slogan, so why drink it?" That is exactly why I take issue with brand loyalty.
I always heard Gatorade was better for athletes than plain water. Do you feel that this is true, or do you feel that you get "seduced" by the intense commercials as well?
Wow, the picture your blog painted was about as intense as this replacement-drink's commercials! In sport, we always strive to be The Best, #1, first place, world champion... Someone who buys into the idea of drinking Gatorade may feel as though they could get that highly sought-after Edge over the competition. Yes, Gatorade supplies 'electrolytes' (ie salt) that we lose when we sweat, but there are other, if not better, options for rehydrating ourselves.
The brand of Gatorade seems to embody the idea of American competitiveness and drive to be on top and always a step ahead of our rivals. As an athlete, I realize that every little thing helps, if not physically, at least mentally.
As you pointed out, kids are very influential, and the Quaker Oats Co. brand definitely knows this when they choose the vibe they send out with their commercials.
To answer your question, I think Adidas says that our society is one that is connected thru sporting events and other athletics. I guess it also says that we're a society that thrives off of competition which I totally agree with.
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