Kevin Garnett — just trying his best like the rest of us?
Tags: economy, G2 commercial, jobless, Kevin Garnett, laid off, pink slip
I need to take a moment to call my own industry onto the carpet once again. But this time I’d love to get your impressions to determine if my impressions are off.
This time the ad in question is a new TV commercial from Gatorade featuring NBA star Kevin Garnett. It also features another Kevin who no one’s ever heard of. Just an ordinary Kevin who’s an amateur swimmer.
The commercial cuts back and forth between the two different Kevins, trading lines from their own points of view.
Ordinary Kevin says: “I’ve never been called the big ticket.”
NBA Kevin says: “I’ve never been handed a pink slip.”
Ordinary Kevin says: “I’ve never had to fill the holes in my sneakers, with cardboard.”
NBA Kevin says: “I’ve never had to tell my wife, ‘we can’t pay the mortgage.’
Ordinary Kevin says: “I’ve never led the Boston Celtics to a title.”
NBA Kevin says: “I’ve never used the backstroke, as a coping mechanism, but I have tried, as hard as I can….
And Ordinary Kevin finishes: “…to be the best that I can.”
Now I think the message the ad agency and Gatorade wanted to pass along went something like this: No matter your circumstances, no matter what life throws at you or the setbacks you face, you still try to be the best that you can.”
It’s a great sentiment. Who could argue with it?
Unfortunately, it’s an idea gone wrong with this execution.
By having Garnet reference things he’s never had to face like a pink slip, or defaulting on a mortgage payment, instead of closing the gap between super-stars and the ordinary joes, the commercial widens the gap, offering a slap in the face to the unemployed and accentuating the fact that Garnett is an overpaid NBA player at a time when so many are suffering. And he’s not just any overpaid NBA player, but the number-one top earner, clocking in at $24,750,000 a year.
When I saw the spot for the first time I winced. I had a physical reaction. It seemed pretty insensitive. And I couldn’t figure out why the agency wouldn’t have anticipated the risk and seen they were dancing on a slippery slope.
And then when I saw the comments on two different web sites, I knew why they didn’t. The ad industry, and those in it, can be as insulated from reality as those on Wall Street. It’s embarrassing.
Here’s what I mean. Have a look at these comments I’ve pulled from an advertising industry website called Creativity that showcases recent work. These are comments made by others in the industry:
Now have a look at comments on Youtube commenting on the same spot from the general public:
Now, what do you think?
Bill said:
Mar 25, 09 at 7:55 pmIt reminds me of a time many years ago, when we were behind on our vehicle payment. The collection company called an yelled at my wife, called her very nasty names. When I got on the phone and ripped the guy for doing that, his response was, “You shouldn’t put your wife in a position to have to deal with people like me.”
Umm…wrong… Things happen.
Things have happened again, and I am looking for work again - bad time to be doing so. All the same, this video doesn’t sit well with me. I am happy he has never gotten a pink slip and has personally as well as indirectly financially raped each and every fan for as much as he can for tickets, the vendors for soda at the games, and the countless people who work for peanuts to make sure the stadiums are nice and clean that may very have to tell their wife they may miss a mortgage payment.
Unfortunately, that’s not reality for far too many in America, and the world over, these days. I say fail for trying to give a goodie goodie feeling that if you do your best you can be a superstar NBA player (or other Superstar) as too many do their best, and STUFF STILL HAPPENS.
fredwich said:
Mar 25, 09 at 8:03 pmI’m embarrassed for the ad industry for letting this one make it through approvals to production and air. And when I think of the dollars represented in its creation and approval I actually feel disgust. Hey, Gatorade or your agency, hire any of us and we’ll tell you when you’re spending hundreds of thousand on production and no telling how much on media to actually damage your brand’s image.
eve said:
Mar 25, 09 at 8:14 pmI can’t stand this commercial! The first time I saw it I was stunned. What are they thinking?!
Bruce said:
Mar 25, 09 at 8:50 pmPersonally, I feel the sports industry is nothing more than dope for the masses, athletes overpaid, bulking up on roids rather than personal achievement, and priorities that matter, like seeking first the Kingdom, are ignored in favor of living room quarterbacking.
Just my 2 cents. Keep the change.
Oh, and Gatorade? Bleh.
PW said:
Mar 25, 09 at 11:14 pmHi FFN - I agree with you. The copy (the words) is easily offensive and insensitive to the legions of people who cannot make their mortgage payments, who have lost their jobs, or who are struggling to cope and survive in this downturn. I can’t figure out why the industry people are for the most part, so enamored with the piece versus the comments made by the public-at-large. The copywriter should get a whack on the head, ditto for the agency and the dolt at Gatorade who cut the cheque. Burrito FFN?
Juan Huitz said:
Mar 26, 09 at 12:21 amInsensitive, and if you don’t agree that it is, it is just stupid, but then again I suppose the target audience is you ‘average joe’. I wouldn’t buy that product no matter how it was presented.
Tina said:
Mar 26, 09 at 4:52 amThe first time I saw the commercial I was so shocked….I didn’t get it. My brain just wouldn’t wrap itself around the dialog.
The second time I saw it I paid attention to the whole thing. I felt ill and vowed to take Gatorade off our list of purchases. This was the most insensitive commercial I have ever seen.
I can only imagine how much the marketing guru at Gatorade is earning to execute such inappropriate campaigns.
SagePage said:
Mar 26, 09 at 5:57 amI agree, this ad is in bad taste period. It’s especially insensitive given the economic and jobless situation we are finding ourselves in. I had thought the ad industry was taking a big hit, too. Apparently not big enough for them to see what is wrong with this ad. It doesn’t seem to be Gatorade’s usual style at all. I haven’t seen it anywhere in my region, but I’ll be sure to turn it off if I do.
Karen Demerly said:
Mar 26, 09 at 6:32 amI agree. They failed. And the first time I heard it I wondered what the heck they were talking about, what one person’s huge challenges (pink slip, etc.) had to do with the other’s not so huge ones (leading the team to a title.)
Let’s hope they pull the commercial from the backlash. Find out which ad agency created it, and let them know. I’d be curious to hear if they’re already getting some of that.
Karen Demerly said:
Mar 26, 09 at 6:40 amOkay, I saw the comment “so fake so bad so chiat” in your post, but didn’t know if they meant it WAS by Chiat, or was LIKE a Chiat ad. Apparently the former.
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz
Group Creative Director: Jimmy Smith
Associate Creative Director: Jayanta Jenkins
Art Director: Brent Anderson
Copywriter: Steve Howard
Executive Agency Producer: Sarah Patterson
Agency Producer: David Hoogenakker
Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Dave Meyers
Producer: Derek Roberto
Editorial Company: 89 Edit
Editor: Chris Davis
Post Production: The Mill
Sound Design: LIME Studios
Music: Human
ffn said:
Mar 26, 09 at 6:45 amYou might want this as well:
The Gatorade Company
P.O. Box 049003
Chicago, IL 60604-9003
1-800-88-GATOR (1-800-884-2867)
To email: http://tinyurl.com/dgkhaa
Cindy said:
Mar 26, 09 at 6:53 amI agree that this is totally inappropriate! How about “I never had to look my children in the eye and tell them sorry honey i may have to use your college money to pay the bills” how would that have sounded. I worked hard at my job as well but here I am laid off because, well I don’t know why. I wish I could play games for a living and win or lose make millions
Tina said:
Mar 26, 09 at 10:00 amor “I never had to go to the food bank to go shopping”. “I never had to ask my friends to pay my power bill”. “I never had to give up my pet because I could no longer afford proper care”. “I never had to give up Gatorade because it was overpriced.”
Gatorade and Chiat are completely out of touch.
Try this: “I never will buy Gatorade again because I am obviously not their target market”. Period. The Aldi’s knock off brand is much cheaper and tastes just as good.
Erin said:
Mar 26, 09 at 12:56 pmMaybe all the money they spent on the add, could have been put into the product. Yuk!!! I’m with Cindy, “I wish I could play games for a living and win or lose make millions.” I’d even drink gatorade then!
gerald said:
Mar 26, 09 at 2:04 pmi lost my job. i’m not really that sensitive about it though. maybe i should be so i can complain about a dumb commercial too. feeling left out
Terry said:
Mar 26, 09 at 3:28 pmThis ad bothered me when I first saw it. I had that same feeling in the gut at how seemingly arrogant they appeared.
To make matters worse I found out today I’ll be laid off on Friday.
Tina said:
Mar 26, 09 at 5:30 pmTerry: So sorry to hear the news. We’re here for ya.
Amic said:
Mar 26, 09 at 5:31 pmYes, thank you internet, for making me feel like I’m not the only one who spotted this. The ad really didn’t even bother me until about the 10th time I saw it and then i realized just how much time i spent thinking about my problems largely due to them being repeated to me by an nba star who is saying “I’m better than you.. but hey sport, good for you for getting out there and trying your hardest anyway..” oh, and here’s a swimmer that looks like Jason Alexander from Seinfeld for some strange reason.
Karol said:
Mar 27, 09 at 10:42 amI find the whole commercial demoralizing to the many unemployed individuals. First off, it is no picnic being unemployed. I found the comment about the pink slip personally offensive, insensitive and I am not ashamed to say it. Athletes are known to have high salaries, some who even sit on a bench for the whole season make more than the average Joe. i also find that many are not worth the pay for the simple reason, they do not earn it as much as most american’s do. What they do is a game. Sure there are risks but s steel worker in america also has risks. He could lose a finger or limb, yet he is not paid the high salary that athletes are for bruises and bumps. I didn’t like the commercial. I thought whoever made it, the dialog and the whole was insulting to those that need work. It makes the athlete more important than the average person who needs a paycheck, no matter how small, to support a family and just make their bills. While athletes make millions a year for contracts that they take advantage of, some of us Unemployed are looking for ways to make a living to support families. Athletes need to down size their high salaries and contribute a little to the economy in times like this. They ask for outragious amounts of money from fans to buy their products, their season tickets and have even asked for donations. Where does their money all go? while they are partying their lives away, going to dinner and spending on big houses, fancy cars, the average person struggles to find work, make next month’s bills and wonders if they can feed their children. This country is becoming endlessly greedy and unbelievably materialistic.
Tina said:
Mar 27, 09 at 2:10 pmI wrote an email to the Gatorade folks, voicing my displeasure and here is there response:
Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback about the new G2 Everyday Athlete TV advertisement. It is never our intention to offend any of our valued consumers.
There seems to be a misunderstanding about our new ad that we’d like to clear up. Given the current economic conditions, we’re highly sensitive to the many people who personally relate to swimmer Kevin Crowe’s story of getting laid off.
Our intent with having Kevin Garnett, a professional athlete, tell Crowe’s story was to underscore that no matter how different their stories may seem, their commitment to sports helped them both overcome their individual challenges. We hope this ad will inspire people in Kevin Crowe’s position and show how a wide range of athletes, from Kevin Crowe to Kevin Garnett, can use sport and activity to help cope and hopefully emerge from today’s unprecedented challenges.
Once again, Tina, many thanks for allowing us to respond to your concerns. You can be certain that we value your comments, and equally, the constructive spirit in which you offered them.
HA! “Constructive Spririt” is quite how I would describe my email!
Amic said:
Mar 27, 09 at 8:13 pmFYI, they sent me the same letter, Word for word.
Amic said:
Mar 27, 09 at 8:18 pmThanks for taking the time to provide feedback about the new G2 Everyday Athlete TV advertisement. It is never our intention to offend any of our valued consumers.
There seems to be a misunderstanding about our new ad that we’d like to clear up. Given the current economic conditions, we are highly sensitive to the many people who personally relate to swimmer Kevin Crowe’s story of getting laid off.
Our intent with having Kevin Garnett, a professional athlete, tell Crowe’s story was to underscore that no matter how different their stories may seem, their commitment to sports helped them both overcome their individual challenges. We hope this ad will inspire people in Kevin Crowe’s position and show how a wide range of athletes, from Kevin Crowe to Kevin Garnett, can use sport and activity to help cope and hopefully emerge from today’s unprecedented challenges.
Once again, many thanks for allowing us to respond to your concerns. You can be certain that we value your comments, and equally, the constructive spirit in which you offered them.
ffn said:
Mar 28, 09 at 4:07 amTina and Amic - props to both of you for taking the time to write Gatorade. I know how easy it is to comment and complain about things we see without taking it the next step but you both have done that.
It’s not surprising that you both got the same letter and that it was one defending Gatorade’s honorable intentions. I found it interesting that nowhere in the letter was there any apology for what they call a misunderstanding — simply stating there was one.
But here’s the thing: when a brand is spending millions to communicate its message (the media buy costs that), then you’d want to be very sure it doesn’t leave room for this kind of misunderstanding. That’s dangerous from a brand-building perspective. So my guess, or at least my hope, is that comments like these will at the very least be stirring up discussion over in the Gatorade offices. Unless they dismiss them as the voice of a few fringe extremists.
Josh said:
Mar 31, 09 at 9:13 pmCalm down people. They’re just trying to sell some Gatorade. It’s not a bad thing that he never got a pink slip.
Tina said:
Apr 01, 09 at 6:55 amThe ad is generating plenty of negative comments. Here’s an example: http://www.marketingshift.com/2009/3/g2-commercial-stars-garnett-kevin.cfm
They must be receiving a lot of negative feedback to have a boiler-plate response email and I imagine some of it must be worded rather strongly. I think the last line of the response email is intentionally sarcastic, written by a marketer who’s ego is bruised by the negative comments, but positioned so he/she can claim their intentions were good. “You can be certain that we value your comments, and equally, the constructive spirit in which you offered them.”
I’d wager that many comments they received were not offered with “constructive spirit”. That sentence completely negates the feelings of anyone who wrote in that was frustrated, angry, etc.
Colleges should include this example in their Marketing 101 courses of how to create insensitive ad campaigns from start to finish.
ffn said:
Apr 01, 09 at 7:04 amWow Tina — you’re right, the ad’s generated a lot of negative comment. I hope the company is following these comments. And yes, the last sentence of the letter implies “you just don’t get it.”
Josh said:
Apr 01, 09 at 4:29 pmThose people need to freaking calm down. That is horrible that you’ve lost your jobs… sorry… but that doesn’t give you the right to criticize anything that mentions a job loss. The swimmer in that commercial was laid of twice and turned to swimming to help cope. Gatorade is comparing and contrasting two “athletes” in opposite situations just to show how ubiquitous athletes really are. Why does this commercial make you any more upset than any other commercials starting a multimillionaire? Do you really have to be “reminded” that Garnett doesn’t struggle with his mortgage? You’re all just looking for a reason to complain.
(And a little extra background for you… Garnett worked harder than probably any other millionaire athlete to get where he is. He worked his way through high school, with as many as 3 to 4 jobs his senior year, so that he could provide for himself and his sister in the brutal Southside of Chicago while his Mom was 2,000 miles away caring for the father he never knew. So it goes without saying, he doesn’t need to be told or taught what it’s like to struggle with money.)
Mike said:
Apr 01, 09 at 4:31 pmmaybe all you haters should stop looking up blogs and go get a job.
ffn said:
Apr 01, 09 at 5:05 pmJosh, as I said in my post — I don’t doubt the original intention of the commercial. But I feel it’s my right as much as anyone else’s to critique it and I believe they did a lousy job of executing the spot. In other words, it didn’t meet its objectives. In my view, they took a risk with highly-sensitive subject matter, and they failed.
There’s one simple way to know that: by the volume of negative comments the ad has produced. Sure, you can dismiss hundreds of letters and online comments as people needing “to freaking calm down.” But if the commercial had been successful, people would have embraced it, not been offended by it. Snap.
Josh said:
Apr 01, 09 at 6:12 pmfnn, I understand you better now.
HD said:
Apr 02, 09 at 10:42 amI’ve been unemployed since October. I worked for a company that makes fuel filters that go in the fuel tanks of cars so you cabn see why there were layoffs…
While I do feel the ad is insensitive due to bad timing, I’m not ready to boycott Gatorade over it…
Honestly, I don’t drink much Gatorade in the 1st place but this commercial has nothing to do with the current state we find our economy in.
You can thank big business and republican assholes for that…
I just hope I can find a job soon or I’ll be the next one telling my wife that “we can’t pay the mortgage.”
roy said:
Apr 03, 09 at 2:28 pmpeople don’t want to have their problems reflected back to them by someone who has, by his own admission, never had to experience them. The commercial means well, just like I meant well the other day when I told my wife that she looked extra fat in her new outfit. I was only mentioning an issue that she’d rather not hear about…But she still got offended anyway! she needs to freaking calm down.
Buy UGG Boots said:
Oct 31, 09 at 10:17 pmpeople don’t want to have their problems reflected back to them by someone who has, by his own admission, never had to experience them. The commercial means well, just like I meant well the other day when I told my wife that she looked extra fat in her new outfit. I was only mentioning an issue that she’d rather not hear about…But she still got offended anyway! she needs to freaking calm down.
Recession Landmines Do Not Discriminate: Proceed With Extreme Caution | Reputation Garage said:
Nov 10, 09 at 6:17 pm[...] The lines are being called “arrogant and insensitive” and a “cruel” “slap in the face“: [...]
cosplay said:
Aug 06, 10 at 1:56 ampeople don’t want to have their problems reflected back to them by someone who has, by his own admission, never had to experience them. The commercial means well, just like I meant well the other day when I told my wife that she looked extra fat in her new outfit. I was only mentioning an issue that she’d rather not hear about…But she still got offended anyway! she needs to freaking calm down.
IT技术 said:
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