Creativity is King

Without a doubt, the most exciting thing I saw during the Rose Bowl game last night was the new, “What is G?” commercial. The commercial, narrated by Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (Weezy), depicts some of the greatest athletes of our time as well as the Jabbawockeez?

For those of you who missed the game, here’s the spot: What is G?

“It’s the emblem of a warrior; it’s the swagger of an athlete, a champion and dynasty. It’s gifted, golden, genuine and glorious. It is a lower-case god. It’s the goat. Ha-ha. The greatest of all time.” So in effect, the self proclaimed GOAT reveals almost no useful information in attempting to figure out what G could possibly stand for.  After watching the ad several times thanks to the brilliance of DVR I spent the rest of the game wondering what the F ‘G’ could stand for while my friends wasted valuable optimism hoping for a Penn State victory.

After a sleepless night, I arose to find many others on the internet were wondering the same thing.  Turns out, G, is Gatorade’s attempt to create a new, “cool” image for the beverage.  Sources within the company had to say this about the product, “For Gatorade, G represents the heart, hustle and soul of athleticism and will become a badge of pride for anyone who sweats.” Sure.

Meanwhile, line extensions have been renamed to “convey the attitude of a tough-love coach or personal trainer, through in-your-face names on the label,” the release states. Thus, Gatorade Fierce is now Bring It, and X-Factor has been renamed Be Tough. Way to go Gatorade, very in-your-face.

In all fairness, kudos to Gatorade for some very creative marketing and advertising.  There has been quite a buzz about this commercial already and I can only expect an increasing number of 11 year old girls to be sipping on some gritty, ‘Bring It’.