Gatorade’s award winning ‘Replay’ initiative, a programme of sports documentaries focused on rematches between classic high school sporting rivals, is back for Season 3 and reunited Chicago basketball powerhouses Bloom and Brother Rice.
The sports drinks replay campaign stages re-matches of great games between high school sports teams and offers former teammates the chance to prove that ‘once an athlete, always an athlete’.
The latest in the series replays a Bloom and Brother Rice’s 2000 super sectional game which ended on a controversial call involving the game clock and a questionable last second tip in at the buzzer. Officially, the Bloom shot went in before the end of the game. But there was both a pistol and buzzer used to signal the end of the game and while the shot beat the pistol, the losers contend it did not beat the buzzer.
So to settle the matter once and for all – play it again.
“Replay continues to grow in popularity because people can relate to wanting a second chance in sport,” says Sarah Robb O’Hagan, chief marketing officer of Gatorade. “From the football fields of Pennsylvania to the ice arenas of Detroit, bringing Replay home to Gatorade’s headquarters to feature the immense basketball talent from the Chicago area is an exciting next step in the platform’s evolution.”
Gatorade provide training and equipment, as we ll coverage of the game. In thi9s case a custoized, 8-week training and nutrition program developed with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute and the Gatorade Training Council, and implemented with the help of professionals from Velocity Sports Performance.
“We take the preparation for this game as seriously as the players do, and we will provide them with the exercise science and sports nutrition support our own roster of professional athletes receive from us,” said Kim White, senior scientist, GSSI. “We look forward to a well played game that reflects the effort, time, and dedication these players have committed to providing.”
The game is scheduled for September and a documentary covering it (and the build up and history) will be produced and aired nationwide by Fox Sports Net.
Comment:
Pepsi’s Gatorade Replay, which won awards in Cannes for promotion and PR, appeals because essentially it provides stories that offer nostalgia, injustice, local legend, perceived injustice and a shot at redemption or even revenge.
It brings back memories, friends and rivals and charts the course of players lives since high school. In America there is a unique culture around high school – from school sweethearts and proms to sports and pride.
Replay is not just branded content, or a partnership between a sports drink and a media outlet, it is emotional storytelling that offers a chance to rewrite the ending.
Links:
www.facebook.com/replaytheseries
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