Gatorade: An Admirable Super Bowl Ad That Missed

Gatorade's ad in the Super Bowl left me feeling both pleased and disappointed.

Maybe you missed it. It was quiet and subtle -- rare for ads in the Super Bowl. Usually, Super Bowl ads are generally packed with "Hey, look at me."

As I was watching it, I was thinking "What's this? How is a dog drinking water going to make a big impression?"

Then, at the end, when the super of "Man's Best Friend" came up did it hit me -- I remembered Michael Vick.

I felt pleased that on the NFL's biggest stage, an advertiser would spend $2.7 million to make an ad that touched on, if only subtly, the topic that Vick brought to light before the season. It's a topic that still needs attention, as there is a certain faction that believes Vick was wrongly persecuted. The fact that some players and a lot of citizens felt Vick did not deserve punishment says there is progress yet to be made. Hail Gatorade for noticing that.

And yet...

This ad got no press - either before by the PR machines or after by the pundits. That tells me the ad missed. And that's a damn shame.

The creative itself was simple and appealing. But, could it have done more? I think so. The line may be thin between a goodwill ad and being preachy, but a huge PR and publicity payoff would be worth the effort. Maybe run the ad at a different time, too. Right before kickoff would have been great.