Ad

This advertisement is from a recent Gatorade campaign.  There are many interesting aspects to this ad and how it attempts to convince consumers to buy Gatorade products.  The message in this ad is very straightforward and simple.  Anyone can understand the text in the ad.  Additionally, there is nothing to distract the viewer.  It is white text on a black background.  This eliminates any possible distractions that could be present if the background was a picture instead.  The white text makes the ad very easy to read.  The message that is being conveyed is that the game has evolved, or improved, and in order to continue to compete or stay ahead of the competition, you must drink Gatorade.  By not identifying a specific game, this ad can apply to all athletes.  Athletes are the intended audience and this ad is implying that athletes don’t want to fall behind or lose out on an opportunity to gain an edge because they do not drink Gatorade.  One interesting aspect of the ad is that there is nothing in the actual ad or text that identifies it as a Gatorade advertisement.  There is no logo.  Gatorade simply assumes, based on its reputation, that potential customers will recognize the font from previous ads.  There is no direct attempt on Gatorade’s part to persuade the consumer to buy or use any particular product or to inform the consumer of Gatorade’s potential benefits.  This is another assumption the company makes.  They assume that the consumer has been previously exposed to enough information to know what Gatorade is and what it actually does.  The logic of this ad does not make sense.  Gatorade assumes that consumers will make their own assumption that because the game has evolved, they must drink Gatorade or that the “game” refers to the method of hydration and that the evolution is the change from drinking primarily water to drinking Gatorade to excel at sports.  In reality, there is very little connection between these ideas and the message that the company wants the consumer to take from the ad.  This connection that the viewer makes is very clever on the company’s part.  They put forth a very simple message, one that everyone can understand, but that really does not mean anything significant, and then rely on the viewer to make their own assumptions about what this must mean and essentially allow the consumer to convince themselves to purchase and use Gatorade products.