While Gatorade is never far from our minds when watching or playing sports, Game 1 of the NBA Finals drove home just how critical to the fabric of athletic culture the ubiquitous drink has become. With LeBron James cramping up in the wilting heat of San Antonio’s air conditioning-deprived AT&T Center, everybody watching began to ask why this elite athlete was cramping so badly.
Thanks to their persistent and creative marketing efforts, Gatorade was the first thing everybody thought of. Never mind the blistering temperatures and insane level of effort being exerted; it had to be a lack of Gatorade that was causing LeBron to be in such distress. The company even had some of fun with the situation on Twitter, pointing out that LeBron was not one of their sponsored athletes (he’s with PowerAde) and that this would never happen under their watch.
Putting aside the inaccuracy of that statement (Gatorade is the only sports drink on NBA sidelines), it’s nevertheless true that because of its popularity, we know a lot of information about Gatorade, its current uses, and its history. But there are also some other bits of information (both good and bad) that modern fans may not realize about the popular drink. Here are 20 Things You Didn't Know About Gatorade.
While Gatorade is never far from our minds when watching or playing sports, Game 1 of the NBA Finals drove home just how critical to the fabric of athletic culture the ubiquitous drink has become. With LeBron James cramping up in the wilting heat of San Antonio’s air conditioning-deprived AT&T Center, everybody watching began to ask why this elite athlete was cramping so badly.
Thanks to their persistent and creative marketing efforts, Gatorade was the first thing everybody thought of. Never mind the blistering temperatures and insane level of effort being exerted; it had to be a lack of Gatorade that was causing LeBron to be in such distress. The company even had some of fun with the situation on Twitter, pointing out that LeBron was not one of their sponsored athletes (he’s with PowerAde) and that this would never happen under their watch.
Putting aside the inaccuracy of that statement (Gatorade is the only sports drink on NBA sidelines), it’s nevertheless true that because of its popularity, we know a lot of information about Gatorade, its current uses, and its history. But there are also some other bits of information (both good and bad) that modern fans may not realize about the popular drink. Here are 20 Things You Didn't Know About Gatorade.
It's the only thing (besides water) you can drink on an NBA bench.
While it may seem a little unfair to their competitors, what else would anyone want during an NBA game? You’re not going to have a soda or a beer. Plus, Gatorade spends a reported $18 million a year for the right to be the only non-water beverage in basketball. For that kind of money, it’s only fair that nobody drinks anything else. Maybe if they kick it up to $25 million, the NBA will get rid of water?
Gatorade stole Michael Jordan from Coke.
Fittingly, it’s been a beautiful 23 years of marriage between Michael Jordan and Gatorade. But it was a complicated beginning to the relationship; Gatorade had never had an endorser before, so they threw $1.4 million a year at His Airness to become the first and only rep for the drink. While Coke already had a huge stable of athletes endorsing the brand, Gatorade built everything around Jordan (and offered him more money, too), sealing a deal that would work out pretty well for both sides.
In 1988 Gatorade introduced "Gatorlode," a carbohydrate-based version of Gatorade.
Nowadays we have G3-the protein-laden recovery drink often placed in front of athletes at postgame press conferences-as the company's signature “non-Gatorade” drink. But G3 is far from the first. Indeed, in 1988, the company reintroduced “Gatorlode,” a carbohydrate-laced version of Gatorade meant to provide an even bigger energy boost than the original. It was even used by Michael Jordan in Game 4 of the 1997 NBA Finals (although that was by accident) and came in flavors like banana, but sadly is no longer available.
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Gatorade is given to refugees to help with dehydration.
While some people warn against drinking Gatorade due to its high sugar content, there are enormous segments of the world's population that desperately need everything Gatorade offers. Gatorade supports refugees in both the United States and abroad by sending cases upon cases of the drink to them, helping to provide a tremendous source of hydration for often severely malnourished populations.
"Gatorgum" was created in lemon-lime and orange, but was discontinued in 1989.
The idea of a gum that could quench your thirst and deliver positive nutritional benefits seems far-fetched at best. But that wasn’t going to stop Gatorade people from trying. They created Gatorgum, which they marketed as “Thirst-quenching gum for active sports-minded people.” The only problem was that these sports-minded people did not really seem all that interested; call them old-fashioned, but they preferred to quench their thirst in the classic form of “drinking” Gatorade rather than chewing it. It’s no surprise, then, that Gatorgum was discontinued not long after its inception. A game-changer, it was not.
A "Rainbow" flavor of Gatorade is available in Russia and Australia.
You know how you and your friends used to mix a bunch of flavors together in one bottle and call it "rainbow?" Well, Gatorade actually does that too, only they make money off of it. However, you have to be in either Russia or Australia to get it, so if you want to try it you're going to make a serious investment in a trans-continental flight.
The original name was "Gator-Aid", but it was changed because the FDA stated that would classify it as something other than a sports drink.
People love to complain about the government and their sometimes-arbitrary decisions. However, making Robert Cade switch his product name from Gator-Aid to Gatorade was a great move from a marketing perspective (not that that's why they did it). Hyphenated product names are impossible to spell and remember, and from a scientific perspective they'd also have to be verified with clinical testing in order to use it commercially.
Gatorade commands 46 percent of the worldwide sports drink market.
Everybody is familiar with Powerade, and other startup drink companies do their best to come at the king. But, really, there is no force on the sports drink market quite like Gatorade. It holds 46 percent of the worldwide market, and (as of 2013) 69.5 percent of the US. While Powerade has gained some ground in recent years, they still hold just 28.8 percent of the market share. So in other words, Gatorade should not be losing any sleep.
The first experimental batch of Gatorade cost $43 to make.
Hey, nobody said science was going to be cheap. Robert Cade, the lead researcher who created Gatorade, had to tinker with numerous chemical compounds to get the formula right when creating the drink in 1965. The result was an expenditure of $43, roughly the equivalent of $321.19 in 2014.
It once contained a substance that was banned by the FDA.
Included in the original formula for Gatorade was cyclamate, a sweetener that was banned by the FDA in 1969. As it turns out, cyclamate has some very problematic side effects; the most important is that it was discovered to be a carcinogen that caused bladder cancer. Obviously, Gatorade immediately pulled the chemical out of the drink and added more of the standard fructose. Thanks to the switch, now the most serious side effect of excessive Gatorade is merely obsesity and Type II diabetes!
Forbes values the Gatorade brand at $4.8 billion.
It's kind of hard to measure the true value of the Gatorade brand, given all the associations people have with the product that make it hard to put into actual dollars. It's a testament to the incredible branding and advertising efforts of the product that when we think of elite athletes and top performances, one of our first thought is of these athletes sitting on the sidelines with a Gatorade cup or bottle in their hands. Given that, we're not surprised that the brand is worth the GDP of a small country.
Through 2007, the University of Florida has accumulated over $150 million from its share of Gatorade royalties.
As most of you already know, the reason the drink is called "Gatorade" is due to the fact that it was created for the University of Florida's football team. Somebody in Gainesville was very smart, negotiating a deal at the outset to earn the university royalties from every bottle sold in exchange for using their mascot's namesake in the marketing of the product. Honestly, though, $150 million seems kind of low given how much Gatorade is sold worldwide. Maybe it's time for Florida to renegotiate.
An unopened Gatorade can last nine months past its shelf life.
Honestly, we're kind of surprised it isn't more than nine months. With the amount of sugar and chemical additives thrown into Gatorade, we feel like the drink should be pretty much invincible at this point. Maybe it is, and they just don't want us to know it? We'll do some testing and let you know what we find.
Gatorade has its own research lab.
This is what happens when you make billions of dollars every year. You can build your own sports drink research facility, concoct your own research, and figure out ways to make even more money. First established in 1985, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute repeatedly has its research cited in commercials for the product, using science to persuade the public that Gatorade is awesome (as if that were really needed). Plus, they have introduced us to those weird Darth Vader masks that they use for their “testing.”
Jordan drank Gatorade throughout the "Flu Game."
Everyone remembers Michael Jordan's famous "Flu Game" from the 1997 Finals. He battled through severe dehydration to play 44 minutes and score 38 points, grab seven rebounds, and hand out five assists. Greatly aiding these efforts was Gatorade, which he gulped down during every single timeout or other break in the action. So basically, this means that if you're sick you can just grab Gatorade and go play the best game of your life...right?
It's available in 86 countries.
Need some rehydration in Russia? A quick cool-down in Korea? No problem. You can get Gatorade pretty much anywhere, and while the bottles and flavors may all look a little different, it's basically the same mix of sugar, water, and insane food dye. Basically, if you're in a country that also has a McDonald's or Subway, chances are good you also have access to all the Gatorade you could possibly want.
26 flavors have been discontinued.
Not every flavor is a winner. Remember Gatorade AM? Or lemonade? Or how about ESPN: The Flavor? Those, among 23 others, have been discontinued in the United States. Sometimes, it’s best to just stick with the tried-and-true flavors like lemon-lime, orange, and fruit punch. There’s a reason those first three flavors have been the ones to stick.
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The first Gatorade shower was during a regular season NFL game.
Before the Giants brought it onto the national stage when they won the Super Bowl, the "Gatorade shower" was simply a regular season tradition. Giants' defensive tackle Jim Burt started the trend during the following their October 20, 1985 win over the Redskins, and linebacker Harry Carson keeping it going following every Giants win thereafter. When he dumped the Gatorade on coach Bill Parcells in front of a worldwide audience following the 1986 Super Bowl, a tradition was born.
Lebron WAS drinking it on the sideline during Game 1.
If you look at the above photo, it’s pretty clear LeBron was, in fact, drinking Gatorade during his Game 1 cramping extravaganza. You mean (gasp!) that Gatorade is not a cure-all for cramps and dehydration? The horror! It may have all been fun and games on Twitter, but we’re kind of surprised the Gatorade people didn’t understand that many of us would remember that the only beverage on the sideline other than water is their drink.