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.