In 1965 many University of Florida football players suffered from dehydration. Doctors at UF created a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage that unlike water kept the players hydrated (www.gatorade.com). This formula was proven successful when the Gators began to play hard throughout games while their opponents struggled in the last quarters. Gatorade was a success and by fall 1967 Stokely-Van Camp had secured rights and began marketing Gatorade nationwide.
In 1983, the Quaker Oats Co. purchased Stokely-Van Camp and it launched Gatorade from a sleepy little brand into superstardom (Kays, 1). Since 1983, Gatorade has enjoyed an unprecedented 20 percent annual sales growth rate, from about $100 million in 1983 to more than $2.2 billion in 2001. Pepsico purchased Quaker Oats in 2001, a move beverage industry analysts predict will eventually lead to an even greater share of the already 80% of the sports beverage market for Gatorade (Kays,1). The New York Times named Gatorade one of the 100 best brands of the 20th centuryalong with the beverage kings Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Budweiser (www.amanet.org).
Commercial Overview:
In 2005 Gatorade introduced a new formula, Gatorade Endurance. The commercial is titled Shattered. The commercial starts off during an intense soccer match where a player is running hard to get the ball and goes to slide and shatters in to concrete like pieces. Then there is an endurance runner who is running very hard and also crashes and breaks into pieces. The narrator begins "the longer your exercise the more severe your hydration needs become and that of cause you to fall apart. That 's why there 's new Gatorade Endurance formula, this unique 5 electrolyte formula puts back more of what your body looses during your most punishing activities." In the end of the commercial they show a football player drinking the Gatorade, going back to practice and maintaining high energy while others around him crumble and break.
References: Kays, J., & Phillips–Han, A. (2003). Gatorade: The Idea that Launched an Industry. Explore Magazine, 8,1. Retrieved from www.ananet.org, November 7, 2005 Retrieved from www.gatorade.com, November 7, 2005 Retrieved from www.obligation.org, November 8, 2005 Rodwan, J. (2005, June). Winning campaigns: Sports marketing in the USA. Soft Drinks International. 34-35.