After being purchased by the Quaker Oats Company in its acquisition of Stokely-Van Camp that same year, Quaker slowly grew Gatorade from a regional drink brand into a national powerhouse. Throughout the commercial, an upbeat pop song described as ' world music' plays, with both adults and children singing lyrics about them wishing that they could play basketball like Jordan:īe Like Mike was created by advertising agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, which had been doing advertisements for Gatorade since 1983.

While Jordan is shown playing basketball seriously, the commercial also contains a shot of him laughing as he loses control of the basketball. He is also shown smiling and laughing while drinking Gatorade with them. To contrast, the ad also contains various clips of Jordan playing basketball in an indoor gymnasium with men. : 212 We also see video clips of Jordan having fun while playing basketball with the children outside. Subsequent cuts feature children of various ages and ethnicities trying to imitate his moves from NBA footage shown earlier. : 212 Following another NBA highlight featuring one of Jordan's slam dunks, the commercial cuts to a black child attempting a dunk with his tongue out like Jordan. The commercial begins with footage of Jordan during Game 2 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he performs a difficult layup by moving the basketball from his right hand to his left while in midair. In subsequent years, the advertisement has been cited as one of the best sports commercials ever. While the advertisement did not drastically improve sales for Gatorade, it helped to further portray Jordan as a likable superstar, endearing him to children who wished to emulate his play. Originally broadcast on August 8, 1991, the commercial was warmly received by the public. Instead, he wrote lyrics and hired Ira Antelis and Steve Shafer to compose the song that would become the background music for the advertisement. Pitzel was inspired by the song ' I Wanna Be Like You' from the Disney film The Jungle Book, but failed to secure the rights to use it. Created by advertising agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, it featured various children and adults playing basketball with Jordan, set to a song with lyrics about wishing one could be like the basketball player.Īs the first Gatorade commercial to feature Jordan, the concept for Be Like Mike originated from advertisement executive Bernie Pitzel. Be Like Mike is a television advertisement for Gatorade starring American professional basketball player Michael Jordan.

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