Gatorade Dog Ad Most Baffling Super Bowl Ad Ever Created

gatorade_dog.jpg

Gatorade really isn't cutting it with its Super Bowl efforts this year. In a spot for its G2 sport drink, Derek Jeter walks through the streets of New York as a baseball landscape digitally follows him. Like we said here, nice effects but that's about it. We said it wasn't lame but close.

After viewing this Arnell-created commercial for the company's flagship line of drinks, we can, without doubt, say this one is truly lame. For almost the entire length of the commercial, we see a dog drinking from its water bowl. We watch. We wait. We watch. We wait. There simply has to be some amazing punchline this thing's working up to. Will the dog break out in some sort of digitally-enabled, cartoonish, Gatorade-fueled dance? Will we see a loving scene between dog and man with a closing shot of man and dog expressing their love for one another while the man drinks from a bottle of Gatorade and the tagline, "Gatorade. Life is Good" is supered?

Unfortunately, we get neither. All we get after watching this dog drink for 25 seconds is...wait for it...a close up shot of the dog with the tagline "Man's Best Friend" and a product shot. Yes. Seriously. That's all we get. Perhaps there's some inside joke we're not getting here. But if even our dim-witted mind can't figure it out after five viewings, it's quite likely a good many people won't get it after just one viewing.

Seriously. Is the dog drinking the Gatorade? Is the dog a man (the sound effects hint at that)? If the dog is a man, how did that happen? And if the dog likes to drink Gatorade, how did those bottles get there? After all, dogs aren't great at carrying things with their paws. Is Gatorade a dog's bets friend? Is the message that a dog AND Gatorade are man's best friends? OK, we're done. Our head is about to explode.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08   Click to Comment   
Topic: Commercials, Strange, Super Bowl 2008, Worst   

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Comments



Comments

I cannot even imagine the meeting where that ad was approved. adorable dog though.

Posted by: B.L Ochman on February 2, 2008 2:02 PM

The Jeter work was mediocre--technique without any heart, but this is just drivel. Arnell is such a bad, bad shop. They are very good however at getting their clients to waste money.

Posted by: pete shotton on February 3, 2008 1:52 PM

The Jeter work was mediocre--technique without any heart, but this is just drivel. Arnell is such a bad, bad shop. They are very good however at getting their clients to waste money.

Posted by: pete shotton on February 3, 2008 1:53 PM

Without question the career builder heart spot was the dumbest of all time. Only good thing about it was it reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, not coincidentally the worst Jones movie. Dog drinking liquid in a gatorade spot does not quite qualify as a head scratcher. Heart jumping out of somebody's chest and quitting a job does.

Posted by: Dan on February 3, 2008 9:37 PM

I think Michael Vick used to be a Gatorade spokesperson. If so, I think they might be capitalizing on the emotions of all the dog lovers who called for Vick's head. Just a theory...

Posted by: stacy on February 4, 2008 2:14 AM

I think Michael Vick used to be a Gatorade spokesperson. If so, I think they might be capitalizing on the emotions of all the dog lovers who called for Vick's head. Just a theory...

Posted by: stacy on February 4, 2008 2:14 AM

This was all about hanging Michael Vick out to dry. It was Gatorade's way of doing damage control after the dog fighting incident. Maybe you'll appreciate this commercial the most after knowing how cunning this advertisement truly was/is.

Posted by: Andrew on February 4, 2008 9:48 AM

No one mentions the fact that dogs should not be drinking a sugary drink like gatorade. This is the first thing we thought of when we saw it!
Not cool!

Posted by: Amy on February 4, 2008 9:54 AM

Andrew, you are DEFINITELY reading too much into this commercial. Michael Vick didn't figure into the equation at all...

Posted by: Amanda on February 4, 2008 1:16 PM

Clearly the lapping dog commercial was a pathetic attempt to cash in on people's love of dogs and animals, while simultaneously taking a shot at the incarcerated Vick and his reprehensible actions.
Look again: jet black dog, bright red collar. Not just coincidence those were Mike's team colors.

Posted by: James on February 4, 2008 1:31 PM

Actually, it is just coincidence. This spot really has no political message whatsoever. But nice try.

Posted by: Amanda on February 4, 2008 4:34 PM

Duh! That was the dog that got M. Vic's contract with gatorade since he was no longer available. That was the best commercial!
Just went over most peoples heads!

Posted by: roo on February 5, 2008 7:59 AM

Vick endorsed Powerade, not Gatorade ... so that theory doesn't fly.

Posted by: Mike on February 15, 2008 5:23 PM