Gatorade, is it in you? Gatorades famous slogan gives various meanings to the every day person. Some think that it refers to the Gatorade inside your body after you drink it. Others take it as a metaphor for playing in a sporting event, where Gatorade asks, "Do you have what it takes inside of you to excel and do as best as possible?" If you ask any athlete, they will tell you that they drink Gatorade because it is the # 1 sporting drink in the world. This makes the ads very interesting and popular because Gatorade is well known by every member of society.
Gatorade uses Michael Jordan, one of the most well known athletes of all time in their rhetorical ad. He is playing basketball by himself in some random gym, where the lights are focused on the courts(and Jordan) and the stands are pitch black. At this point basketball player with a Chicago Bulls jersey with the # 23 on it (Michael Jordan of the past) arrives on the court and plays the present Michael Jordan in a game of 1 on 1. They continue to talk smack to each about the age "old man" of older MJ and the inexperience "kid" of the Chicago Bulls MJ. You can easily tell by the way they play too that they are of different generations, for the Bulls Jordan is quick and makes amazing dunks, while present Jordan is taking mostly outside jump shots because he cannot dunk like he used to. The game ends with the older Jordan making a huge block against the young Jordan's layup.
The intent of this ad is to show that no matter what age people are, drinking Gatorade and having it "in you" makes people play at their best. This is shown by both Michael Jordan's drinking Gatorade and sweating it as well.This commercial reaches out to not only the innocent minds of kids and teenagers, but adults as well because it shows that Gatorade makes athletes play at the top of their game, but also adults can achieve things they thought were not possible anymore( Like playing your 20 year old self in a game of 1 on 1!). The ending of the commercial is hilarious as well, for it shows a third Michael Jordan from his college years at North Carolina saying, "Hey Mike, whose got next?" The older Jordan responds by saying, "Get your young butt out there". This shows that even thought Michael Jordan may be able to beat his 20 year old self with the help of Gatorade, he is still an old man and knows his own limits when it comes to playing. I can relate to this ad because I play sports every day and can admit that at the least drink 2 Gatorades every day. Gatorade gives you the extra edge, not to just compete in games, but gives you the courage that you will play better because of it.
The intent of this ad is to show that no matter what age people are, drinking Gatorade and having it "in you" makes people play at their best. This is shown by both Michael Jordan's drinking Gatorade and sweating it as well.This commercial reaches out to not only the innocent minds of kids and teenagers, but adults as well because it shows that Gatorade makes athletes play at the top of their game, but also adults can achieve things they thought were not possible anymore( Like playing your 20 year old self in a game of 1 on 1!). The ending of the commercial is hilarious as well, for it shows a third Michael Jordan from his college years at North Carolina saying, "Hey Mike, whose got next?" The older Jordan responds by saying, "Get your young butt out there". This shows that even thought Michael Jordan may be able to beat his 20 year old self with the help of Gatorade, he is still an old man and knows his own limits when it comes to playing. I can relate to this ad because I play sports every day and can admit that at the least drink 2 Gatorades every day. Gatorade gives you the extra edge, not to just compete in games, but gives you the courage that you will play better because of it.
Gatorade is one of the most popular sporting drinks in the world. It's what every athlete needs and desires when they are playing and want to perform their best. Having the greatest basketball player of all time in your ad also helps to create an even bigger fan base that Gatorade has. As simple as Gatorade may be with their ads, their rhetorical strategy has made them the best, in which they have been able to sell as a result of having the worlds greatest and popular athletes in every single ad. Society will look back and realize that Gatorade will always reign as king because sports will never end, there will always be popular athletes, and there will always be the audience that listens to Gatorade and buys their product.
First, I need to know. Did you ever see Michael Jordan play? Each year that passes, I wonder when I will first encounter kids who never got to see Michael Jordan play. For the record, Michael Jordan is the best professional athlete ever to play any sport. You heard it here first. That said, thanks for the great post. Your analysis is very good. I understood the metaphor embedded in the slogan, but I missed the message about the MJ vs. MJ game. You are correct; I think Gatorade wants to appeal to older Americans who might feel as if they have lost the skills they had as a kid. (I have!) To see the older MJ take-on the younger, and eventually block his shot, inspires an older generation of athletes. My only suggestion would be to proofread your posts once more before you post them. There are a couple grammatical errors in here that would distract your reader.
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