'Gatorade Ad Analysis: Be Like Mike'

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In late summer of 1991, Gatorade ran an advertisement featuring a then 29 year old future Hall of Fame NBA player, Michael Jordan. It just aired right after he just won his first of six total NBA Championships. This ad was going to feature the first official athlete to be in a Gatorade ad. The ad’s focus was to young adults who are dreaming big, and want to become this great athlete along with being a great person. That is what Gatorade wanted to convey in this ad. They wanted to show that Michael Jordan is that dream that every kid wants to be. With this in mind, Gatorade was able to create the “Be Like Mike” campaign. The “Be Like Mike” ad portrays Michael Jordan being an amazing athlete and person, while drinking Gatorade. The sports drink …show more content…

As the ad rolls on, the audience will start to see Gatorade in almost every clip. Ethos is displayed through each Gatorade bottle or logo shown since it is a house product and name. Each Gatorade bottle is cleverly mixed in with the pathos part of this second half of this ad. While showing Jordan playing ball with his friends in a gym, the camera shows him just hanging out with his friends drinking Gatorade. After this clip, Gatorade decided to show kids playing sports and drinking Gatorade. Later in the “Be Like Mike” advertisement, Jordan is playing basketball with a bunch of kids to show that even though he has all of this fame, he will still just hang around and teach kids how to play. That ideal that Jordan has is something that each young adult wants to have. Along with playing this part of this commercial, the song, in a child’s voice, says “I wanna be like Mike.” This line, and the tone of voice shows that Jordan is the person who every young athlete wants to become. The second half of the commercial is based on how each child wants to have the same ideals as Jordan, or as Gatorade puts it, “Be Like Mike.” Gatorade used pathos to show how Michael Jordan is a role model for the future athletes. Showing Jordan’s humane side created respect from the audience, which is what primarily drives this campaign. Therefore, the second half was all about using ethos and pathos to make the “Be Like Mike” commercial