Gatorade vs. PowerAde: A Battle of Thirst Quenchers

Gabe Ellison

4/7/13

WRIT 1133

Gatorade vs. PowerAde: A Battle of Thirst Quenchers

No matter what sport you play there are times that you use sports drinks for hydration. The market for sports drinks is dominated by two major brands: Gatorade and PowerAde. As you can imagine in a market that is dominated by two brands there is very stingy competition between the two. No matter the advertisement, all of their ads are aimed at the same people, athletes. These two advertisements are prime examples of the techniques employed by sports drink companies; celebrity endorsement and scientific evidence.

                In this Gatorade ad, it is very clear which advertising technique they are using. They are using images of a very famous athlete, or ethos, to tell you to buy their product. This is meant to show the consumer that if this athlete drinks Gatorade and is amazing; it can help you be amazing as well! In this case the athlete is none other than Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is widely viewed as the greatest basketball player of all time, and he is probably one of the most recognizable athletes in the world.

The ad contains the image of a bottle of Gatorade next to pictures from various points in Jordan’s life. These include him in high school, college, various iconic points in his pro career, present day, and even his motorsports company. The images from Jordan’s pro career are used in various Gatorade commercials because they are linked with their product. One is of him collapsing in the arms of his teammate during the famous playoff game in which he played despite being horribly sick. This is an example of his perseverance with the help of Gatorade. Another is of his incredible free-throw line dunk during a slam dunk contest; this is meant to show Gatorade’s ability boosting properties.

The layout of the ad is the series of pictures with the words THEN. NOW. FOREVER. in large font underneath. This tells young athletes that Michael Jordan has used Gatorade throughout his legendary career and always will, and in order to be as great as him you should too. The words are in traditional Gatorade font and are bold enough to be easily read. The Gatorade bottle sticks out against the background of black and white photos because of the its vibrant red color. This highlights the Gatorade as well as emphasizing the classic nature of the pictures.

The PowerAde advertisement on the other hand uses scientific information to attract consumers to their product. It has many statements about its ION⁴ advanced electrolyte system. It states that it, “helps to replenish 4 electrolytes lost in sweat”. These electrolytes are sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. By stating that their product contains these electrolytes, PowerAde is implying that these are necessary for people that sweat on a regular basis, and who sweats more than athletes? Stating that their product contains these electrolytes also implies that their competitor’s product does not have these in them which creates an image a superior product.

 The layout of the PowerAde ad is very simple, but also very bold. The ad features a series of very colorful PowerAde bottles against a black background. This makes the bottles stand out and creates an athletic color scheme. The text is very basic and white on a black background which makes it easy to read. The largest word on the add is the word complete. This gives the impression that the drink is well rounded and contains the things that you need. Next to the where it says ION⁴ there is what looks like an x made out of a molecule diagram. This adds to the scientific nature of the advertisement.

Both of these ads are trying to attract the same group of people by different means. One uses a celebrity endorser to attract their customers while the other uses scientific reason as their selling point. These can attract different people within the broad groups of athletes in the world. In the world of sports drinks, the products all taste very similar so advertising is incredibly important. Attracting a customer can create a lifelong connection with your product, especially if the customer is an athlete.

The food cultures and values that can be derived from these ads are found in the way that we view athletics in our society. We view athletics as one of the most important things in our society. We see success in athletics as a major goal in life and envy those who do succeed. These ads play on the way that all athletes strive to be the best and the companies are trying to tell you that there product gives you the best chance at being the best.