Be Like Mike

Read the campaign story

Gatorade’s Be Like Mike debuted in 1991, pairing Michael Jordan with an original musical idea. Reporting credits Bayer Bess Vanderwarker and identifies Bernie Pitzel, Ira Antelis and Steve Shafer in the song’s development. Later revival coverage names additional agencies for their own executions. Those returns are grouped here rather than counted as new campaign families.

The opened reporting also cautions against equating a famous advertisement with product sales. Its retrospective accounts are not a controlled effectiveness study, so this case makes neither a quantified success claim nor a definitive failure claim. The useful question is how a memorable endorsement can become a brand asset while still leaving the audience’s understanding of the product and its appropriate role to be evaluated separately.

Editorial interpretation: music can provide a compact memory structure that survives beyond a single viewing. A repeated phrase and recognisable mood may help an advertisement become socially repeatable. That does not mean every catchy song belongs to the brand in the listener’s mind. The creative needs a clear association with the offer, and the team must distinguish recognition of the melody from understanding of what is actually being advertised.

Editorial interpretation: an admired person can make a brand feel approachable when the scene emphasises ordinary connection rather than only exceptional achievement. The risk is implying that buying the product is a meaningful route to becoming like that person. A responsible adaptation uses admiration as a tone or narrative entry, while keeping performance claims, personal worth and the conditions of success separate from the act of purchase.

Design the musical role before commissioning a tune

Decide whether sound should identify the brand, carry an instruction or express a particular mood. Give the composer a clear functional brief rather than asking only for something catchy. Test the music without the picture and the picture without the music to understand what each contributes. Keep an accessible text route so the central offer does not depend entirely on hearing the sound.

Secure rights and attribution as part of the concept

Clarify ownership, licensing, performance, editing and reuse terms before a track becomes central to the campaign. A familiar musical reference can create expectations that a small team cannot legally or financially support. Commission original work when appropriate, but do not assume that a new recording avoids rights in an existing composition. Credit contributors accurately and preserve the agreed limits across later adaptations.

Measure the brand connection apart from enjoyment

Ask what the audience remembers, which advertiser they associate with it and what they think the product can do. Treat these as separate questions. A widely liked execution can still create weak or misleading category understanding. Do not infer sales, health benefits or athletic improvement from music recall, and do not let a celebrity’s accomplishments substitute for evidence about the advertised item.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: commission a short original audio signature for a fictional stationery shop, comparing a musical introduction with a spoken version of the same practical offer.

Measure delayed brand recognition, correct understanding of the offer and enjoyment separately. Ask whether the sound suggests any unsupported quality or benefit. Compare the musical and spoken versions under similar conditions, while treating the small test as evidence about communication rather than a prediction of sales or cultural popularity.

Stop if the concept borrows protected music, implies celebrity endorsement or encourages unsupported performance or health beliefs.

• Use no celebrity likeness, familiar melody or beverage demonstration.
• Agree composition and recording rights in writing.
• Provide captions and a silent version with identical information.