Playbook Plates

by: Aidan DeMuro

When thinking of a victorious NFL team and a hard fought game; many minds will go to the tradition of the ‘gatorade shower’ – a pastime which involves dousing the winning teams head coach with a cooler of gatorade. While making for a glorious spectacle, How did the tradition arise? how does the tradition affect us as spectators? and how do brand partnerships in the NFL affect what we consume?

Birth of the shower

It was 1984 when this tradition was born. Defensive Tackle Jim Burt decided to douse head NY Giants head coach Bill Parcells in an act of celebratory revenge After the New York Giants beat the two-time defending NFC champions; the Washington Redskins. While viewers at the time may not have known it, an unshakeable tradition was born that would penetrate everything from the NFL to little league, keeping head coaches doused with America’s favorite sporting drink.

Gatorade’s Early NFL Partnership

Gatorade had sealed their partnership with the NFL in 1983, becoming the leagues official beverage showing up on the sidelines, practice and at training camps, leading to the iconic celebration shower we see today. While gatorade had been experimenting with it’s place in football since the late 60’s this partnership sealed the deal and went on the affect not just the sport, but the major cultures that surround it as well.

Since gatorade was the official partner of the NFL a year before the iconic shower celebration would take place, They took it as the perfect marketing opportunity and managed to promote themselves heavily and get them into every facet of sports life in the U.S. This strategic brand marketing via sideline coolers, player testimonials and amazing television and print ads helped heighten Gatorade to what it is today.

This marketing dominance carried on till today, associating Gatorade with athletic performance and promising it as an effective drink for sports training helped get it into the hands of most children and households in the U.S. due to its inherent credibility with athletes.

This credibility and marketing would only get better as they expanded their footprint in other professional sports like basketball with their frequent collaborator Michael Jordan and their “Be Like Mike” campaign.

Gatorade ushered the NFL and all other professional leagues into a new era of marketing, completely changing the game in brand partnerships, showcasing the massive effect these brands can have on our consumption as sports fans. Gatorade cemented this legacy not just through marketing but through actual cultural tradition such as the Gatorade shower itself. One goal many other companies dream to achieve.

during the NFL’s time with Gatorade, they experimented with many other sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch creating cultural phenomena and tradition through new mediums like superbowl ads, cementing these brands as powerhouses in American culture.

As we enter a new era as sports fans, the brands we know and love have only expanded their outreach. Gatorade has capitalized on their influence by running ads with this eras finest athletes such as Lamar Jackson, Caitlin Clark and Jayson Tatum. cementing their classic approach from the 1980’s and 90’s and reinventing its success.

These stories and brand partnerships with our favorite sports result in culturally significant events such as the gatorade shower which alter our perception of sports as viewers which make us crave what they advertise! This is a masterclass in marketing and results in certain bias to the brands we buy, and how we interact with them.

Thanks for reading!!