Gatorade's Got it Good

LSU coach Les Miles after defeating U of Miami in the 2005 Peach Bowl

While I was watching the Packers beat the Steelers in the Superbowl of 2011, I realized how EPIC it is that Gatorade has been associated with almost every big NFL victory for the past 20 years.

I mean... Gatorade is literally associated with winning. Doesn't get much better than that.

Interestingly enough, the first cooler of Gatorade was dumped over the head of New York Giants coach, Bill Parcells, by one of his defensive linemen, Jim Burt, out of animosity in 1985. Apparently Burt was trying to get back at Parcells for dogging him too aggressively for his liking on the sidelines during the game.

Parcells didn't mind the sports drink shower, so the post-victory Gatorade dump became a Giants tradition. Eventually, it became a sports tradition.

When Bill Schmidt, the head of Gatorade's sports marketing department from 1984 through 1999, was asked to comment on his response to the Gatorade dump phenomenon he said, "John Madden was circling the gatorade coolers showing how they do this thing. I'm thinking, 'What the hell? I think I've died and gone to heaven'" (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=rovell/051014).

Click here to read MTV's "25 Greatest Gatorade Baths in Sports History" and watch some cool videos of the historic moments.

Positive association is obviously a very powerful form of marketing. Corona has also successfully associated itself with beaches and vacations. Here's one of its football-associated ads:

The internet is a great tool for creating associations. While Gatorade and victory and Corona and beach are positive associations, some associations are negative. Take, for example, comedian Stephen Colbert's response to former state legislator Rick Santorum's anti-gay comments. Upset, Colbert logged on to UrbanDictionary.com and defined "Santorum" as "The frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex" (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=santorum).

Now that's association.

Clearly association can harm just as easily as it can help.

• So, what would I like to be associated with?
• Intelligence
• Passion
• Wit
• Art
• Beauty
• Charm
• Empathy
• Kindness

Hmm... kindness and empathy should probably come before wit, art, beauty and charm at least if not in front of intelligence and passion as well. Maybe I need to reevaluate my priorities a little bit. Humanity first.

I Love Liz Lee

My Life As Liz

The MTV show My Life as Liz is one of my favorites. Yes, it is obviously scripted. Yes, it may try too hard to be "hipster," and Liz Lee, the show's protagonist, may try too hard to be lame. However, there's this undeniable spirit of individuality that courses through the show. All the characters have their own thing going on, but especially Liz.

Why do I think she's so cool?

The girl's got spunk. She is who she is. She's weird, she's crazy, she's colorful, she's original. She embraces her angle on life. She jumps over spilled trash cans instead of walking around them. She gets up and performs her music instead of singing it in the shower. She goes to New York for college instead of staying near her hometown of Burleson, TX.

That's another thing- Liz has struggled with fitting in everywhere she has gone, and I can relate to that. When going to high school in Burleson, Liz thought no one got her but her "nerd herd," a group of Star Wars-loving goofballs. The culture at her school was very small town Abercrombie and Fitch, while Liz would have been better classified as "indie." While the majority of her classmates was meeting up at the local mall, Liz was ambling around in dusty old thrift shops, looking for her next statement piece.

So, in an attempt to find more people like her, she decided to go to college in New York City. There, she expected to find oodles of art nerds and Star Wars fans. However, what she found was another place she didn't fit in. This time, instead of being ostracized by the mall rats, she was ostracized by the same people she thought would embrace her, the art nerds.

When I watch her show, I can't help but think, "Welcome to my life."

I grew up in Milwaukee, WI, a small, liberal, largely middle-class city located along the coast of Lake Michigan. Most of my friends outfitted themselves in thrift shop finds and borrowed items. However, I was all about the runways. I craved sophistication and a cosmopolitan lifestyle. So, I left what I knew in Milwaukee and headed for Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.

When I got here, I was so excited to find more people "like" me; however, all I found was more people I was not like. Instead of finally feeling accepted, moving away made me feel even more confused. Since I wasn't sure I liked what I had found in Dallas, and I wasn't sure the culture of Milwaukee was for me... Where do I fit in?

Of course, I've found some amazing friends at SMU now, friends I know I will keep for life. However, a week does not pass without my feeling insecure about fitting in here.

Then I realized, that's life. No matter where I move or who I choose to hang out with, I will struggle with "fitting in." It's not that I have special weirdo problems, it's that everyone, no matter how "cool" they are, struggles with fitting in. Interesting thought. Even President Obama feels awkward sometimes around foreign leaders sharing an inside joke he doesn't understand.

So, thank you, Liz Lee, for showing me that I'm not an anomaly. I am me.