Gatorade inventor’s kin unhappy about new name: ‘G’

Gainesville, Fla. — The “Gatorade bath” is synonymous with championship celebrations. But when University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer was doused with a bucket of the sports drink after the Gators won the national title last week, he technically took a “G bath.”

That’s because Gatorade Co. is rechristening its product simply as “G” — a bold move that has angered the family of the man credited with inventing the legendary beverage.

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Lynne Sladky/AP

After winning the BCS title this month, Florida coach Urban Meyer is drenched with the sports drink developed for the Gators in 1965.

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The new labeling is part of a larger initiative by Gatorade’s parent company, PepsiCo, to redesign its core brands.

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“We’re mad about it, if you want to know the truth,” said Mary Cade, 79, a Gainesville resident and the widow of Dr. Robert Cade, a former UF professor who helped create the drink in 1965. “I don’t think I talked to anybody that wasn’t upset about it.”

The new bottles and packaging feature a dominant “G” with “Gatorade” appearing in small type.

The TV marketing campaign, launched in the past two weeks, features past and present sports icons, including Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and others. The athletes appear on the screen in black and white and the commercials end with the letter “G.”

Those ads, produced by actor/director Spike Lee and voiced over by rapper Lil’ Wayne, have created a buzz — not only for the impressive lineup of legends, but over confusion about what product is being sold since the word “Gatorade” is never mentioned.

Cade wonders how someone will spot their favorite sports drink in a store.

“I said, ‘How are people going to find it on the shelf?’ ” Cade said.

“Why do we need to change this? Why change something that is a success?”

The “G” marketing campaign is the brainchild of Sarah Robb O’Hagan, who was named the company’s chief marketing officer in June.

In a release, Gatorade Co. said it is “redesigning everything from the sidelines to the shelf to appeal to a broader range of athletes and active people,” while using “bold new packaging.”

It is part of a larger initiative by Gatorade’s parent company, PepsiCo, to redesign its core brands. Pepsi and Tropicana products also have new packaging and labels.

Reached at the company’s headquarters in Chicago, a Gatorade official, who asked that his name not be used, assured that, “It’s not a name change. It’s still going to be called Gatorade. It’s just a design change on the bottle.”

Cade is not so sure.

At a November meeting in Tampa for the Gatorade Trust — the family members and shareholders of the five scientists credited with inventing Gatorade — the new marketing representatives tried to sell everyone on the “G” marketing strategy, Cade said.

“‘It’s ‘Good.’ … It’s ‘Glorious.’ … It’s ‘Grand,’ ” Cade said. “It was every ‘G’ word they could think of, except ‘Gatorade.’ “

The drink, created to help hydrate Florida football players, has become an iconic brand over the years and has provided more than $150 million in residuals to UF. Jeremy Foley, the school’s athletic director, did not return a call seeking comment.

Several years ago, Gatorade introduced a commercial that retraced the origin of the drink. The ad featured footage of Gator games at Florida Field, legendary college football announcer Keith Jackson and Robert Cade.

Cade died in November 2007, and his wife knows how he’d feel about the “G” campaign.

“He’d be pretty upset,” Mary Cade said. “I wouldn’t want to say the words that he might say.”

The company’s strategy is to regain market share, according to Gerry Khermouch, editor of the bi-weekly industry newsletter Beverage Business Insights. He said Gatorade has lost revenue in recent years, not to direct sports drink competitors such as Powerade, but to enhanced water products including VitaminWater and Smartwater, which are owned by Coca-Cola.

Khermouch said Gatorade is “taking a big chance” with its “G” campaign, and the magazine Advertising Age called it a “risky strategy.”

Of 576 people who responded to a poll on CNBC.com, 64 percent said they didn’t like the “G” idea.

“I don’t think the risk is so much that the consumers are going to forget the name,” Khermouch said. “They’re kind of destabilizing the whole franchise, untethering the brand from all of its roots. And that’s always risky, because you could start losing shelf space.”

Cade said the company assured her that some bottles with “Gatorade” labels will be displayed prominently for now, but they’ll eventually be phased out.

She also said the company plans to return the Gatorade name if the new approach isn’t successful.

Still, said Cade, who now owns just a minority share of Gatorade and doesn’t control the patent, her family isn’t happy about the change.

“Everybody is totally against it, but we don’t really have any clout,” she said.