Now I've Gatorade before, and didn't seem especially remarkable, even though it's advertised to be, with the ability to "release potential" and "refuel electrolytes" like the advertisement says. Electrolytes. What do you think of when you hear that word? Maybe science related things? When I hear science, I tend to think of tested facts and research, or scientists making this "super drink" that Gatorade is advertised as, so electrolytes must be really good for your body, and help you win sports. A electrolyte is actually an ionizable constituent of a cell, or more simply, a charged organic compound. Many people who read this might not even understand what this is, but the wording the ad uses automatically makes you think it's good ("and electrolytes to rehydrate"). People automatically assume it's good, because apparently they rehydrate, and that's important when you are physically active. The ad also says in bright letters: "Contains no high fructose corn syrup." I've seen this in a lot of juice commercials, like not having it automatically makes it good for you. That isn't an excuse for all sodium and sugar it has, but because of the lack of this one unhealthy ingredient, we think "it must be okay".
To a certain extent, these "enhancements" that Gatorade has does help your body, but unless you are engaged in an extremely intense physical activity for extremely prolonged periods of time, the Gatorade isn't really doing much else for you that would've been accomplished with water, but because of all the media that has been shoved into our face about the drink, like professional athlete promotion, guaranteed enhance in performance quality, we are willing to spend more money on something that would've been accomplished by water when exercising, and is the ultimately healthier decision when just drinking even when not exercising.
While researching, I came across multiple Gatorade ads that showed famous basketball players promoting the drink. I feel another reason why people drink this is because they aspire to be like football players, or NBA stars, so you have to drink the same drinks they do, and at that point, it becomes a more emotional reason to drink it, to have that same experience your idol does. If you associate yourself with a particular group or famous person, as described in the documentary "The Persuaders", you become a part of that "cult", so if you're a fan of, say Micheal Jordan, you're going to want to drink the product if he does, and feel a need to drink it, even if Micheal Jordan doesn't actually drink it, and is just promoting for money.
I also came across an ad that showed a rather "beaten up" water bottle, being held by a white man, while a Gatorade bottle looking appealing and misted, being held by a black man. A stereo type I have seen is that African Americans tend to be better at sports, like in the NBA. So the Gatorade bottle attached to the positive connotation word "hydrate" is more appealing than the bland, dented water bottle being held by someone who is supposedly not as good at sports, and attached to a word with a negative connotation, "frustrate". The ad even says that "its hydration to replace what you sweat out throughout your workout", when water does exactly the same thing when it comes to basic workout.
People also consume Gatorade even when they aren't exercising, for the color and because it tastes good. Water doesn't really have any "flavor", so Gatorade has that extra advantage, but because of the salt and sugar content, it's not very healthy for you.
Gatorade also has recently been approached by media for using a fire retardant chemical in the drink, called brominated vegetable oil which can cause side affects like and early onset of puberty and decreased fertility. Despite the Gatorade copmpany assuring that it isn't harmful and meets federal regulations, the FDA is still insisting on further toxicity studies. You don't see this advertised in commercials or ads, and don't list any ingredients or nutritional facts at all. So is the drink really harming your body?
Maybe I'm making too many assumptions about all of this, but Gatorade is still consumed by athletes who want a increase their performance quality. Granted that Gatorade doesn't increase quality of performance and helps hydrate you a little more after intense prolonged physical activity, why not just drink water? All these different aspects of media that surround us indefinitely influence even these little aspects of our lives, trying to use these aspects to get our attention and convincing us of the products importance, when in reality, might just be money better spent on something else.
No comments:
Post a Comment