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This was a really good marketing idea I had for Gatorade last year. They turned me down flat, and politely directed me to the Coca-Cola company, who makes Powerade (which is really just as good as Gatorade). Coca-Cola told me they don't accept suggestions from outside the company. So this idea will just linger here until someone rips it off and makes millions of dollars. Maybe then I can sue some motherfuckers. |
-----Original Message-----
From: Hans Bungle
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 3:41 PM
To: "Fox, Tom {Quaker}"
Subject: Marketing/New Product Suggestion for Gatorade
Dear Mr. Fox,
Picture this: Pittsburgh Penguins star Mario Lemieux skates gracefully into
the corner after the puck, stopping short and sending a spray of ice toward
the face of the Red Wings' onrushing Steve Yzerman...and Yzerman opens his
mouth and laps up the ice like a thirsty baby Labrador playing under a
garden hose! Why would he do this, you ask? Because it's not ice, it's
FROZEN GATORADE!
Is this an idea for a new advertising campaign, or am I suggesting that the
NHL actually begin freezing your product and coating their playing surfaces
with it? Well, actually, BOTH!
I believe that every NHL game, and, for that matter, every hockey game from
Peewee League to the gold medal game in the Olympics, should be played on a
surface consisting mostly of frozen Gatorade. Not only would the players
benefit from their proximity to your refreshing product, but you would reach
a HUGE audience of thirsty hockey fans. Now, I am not sure what your
current relationship with the NHL is, but how would this suit you:
1)The Gatorade logo would be all over the ice in every NHL arena, ensuring
previously unheard of levels of exposure for your wonderful line of
beverages.
2)In addition to the logos, the beverage-buying public would immediately
have an unspoken understanding that hockey, the game they love, is now
played on Gatorade, the sports drink they crave. This can't hurt.
3)Every NHL player would be dying to appear in your new television campaign,
featuring some of the greatest athletes on ice (make that GATOR-ICE) skating
on and consuming the TOP SPORTS DRINK IN THE WORLD. It's a well-known fact
that all athletes love drinking Gatorade, and these guys would line up to do
commercials for your new line of goods (and you wouldn't have to pay them
Michael Jordan dollars, either).
4)Here's the kicker: each NHL team would have its own "Home Ice Flavor,"
which could be a current flavor such as "Fierce Melon," but would more
likely be a TEAM-SPECIFIC flavor that you would make for all 30 NHL
teams...the ice itself would be made of a mixture of the specific home ice
flavor and water (if it was 100% Gatorade it might be a bit sticky, but I
leave these technical details to you and your scientists).
5)The NHL Finals, in my opinion, should always be played on the Classic
Original Lemon-lime flavor, in both teams' home arenas.
The new flavors I refer to would be sold in each NHL city and the outlying
areas, and fans would go crazy for a taste of what their NHL heroes are
enjoying. Here are a few team-specific suggestions:
San Jose Shark Bite
New Jersey Devil Fire and Ice
St. Louis Blueberry Splash
New York Ranger Rain
Montreal Canadien Dry Ice
Minnesota Wild Melon Burst
You probably have gigantic compounds full of people who get paid large
salaries to come up with better names than that, so I will leave those
decisions to you and your marketing team. As for the costs of developing
and producing as many as 30 new flavors? I think you could make some VERY
minor (nonexistent?) adjustments to the formulas of the current stable of
flavors, slap a new label on 'em, and roll 'em out in time for the 2002-2003
NHL season. I know I would gladly buy some. But again, I leave all the
production concerns and legal decisions/contracts to you and your team.
You've proven through the years that you know what you're doing.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on my submission. I hope you are as
optimistic as I am about this exciting new approach to marketing your
refreshing sports drinks.
Sincerely,
Hans Bungle
verbungle.comFrom: "Fox, Tom {Quaker}"
To: 'Hans Bungle'
Subject: RE: Marketing/New Product Suggestion for Gatorade
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 16:38:06 -0600Hans, great ideas and thanks for thinking of us. One big problem, the NHL has an exclusive marketing relationship with a competitor in our category, a Coke product. We have no other hockey relationships that might be interested in the idea so you may want to call Atlanta and see if they're interested. Tom |
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