Gatorade Going Medieval on Your Ass

Gatorade has rebranded itself as simply G and in order to promote the new name and logo, it has created commercials that star a myriad of athletes in a quest for G. Initially, I thought the commercial was crap until I realized there was an extended version online that’s 9 minutes long. It is a parody of Monty Python’s quest for the Holy Grail.

I can see how this idea got sold. Putting American athletes to imitate British actors in a parody of a movie that was already a parody to begin with sounds interesting. Then you add the fact that you’re creating a “webisode “of this quest that has the potential to go viral.

Personally, I still think it’s crap. To begin with, this 9-minute mini movie probably cost a ridiculous amount of money to produce when it’s including around 10 athletes and it’s just not good. While I cracked up when I saw Kevin Garnett pet a unicorn, I think Gatorade went too far. They had excellent brand equity and now they are chipping away at it. There are too many things going on. The references are obscure and the payoff at the end with Michael Jordan’s voice wasn’t enough for me to put up through 9 minutes of bad acting and cheesy special effects.

I get it. G is trying to appeal to more than just elite athletes. It's trying to appeal to everyone. I think it's brave for them to move a beverage in a completely different direction in a category that is usually about serious, athletic advertising. I just think this brand stretched too far. That said, Usain Bolt's pet ego is completely hilarious though.