Gatorade should stick with athlete-focused playbook.(Viewpoint)

Advertising Age, August, 2007

Gatorade, we're afraid, is at risk of hyper-extending its brand.

News that the venerable brand is readying a low-calorie electrolyte beverage for athletes when they're not exercising has us scratching our heads.

This is a brand long admired for sticking to sweat. Those familiar with the Gatorade mythology (or even its advertising) know that it was created to rehydrate University of Florida football players suffering in the heat and humidity of the "Swamp.'' All of the company's marketing messaging has featured serious athletes in the midst of seriously athletic workouts. The only times those athletes weren't shown on the field was when they were being subjected to grueling athletic experiments in the lab.

Of course, nonathletes drank it to...

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