Judy Harris, the new Channel One CEO, is quickly establishing herself as a hard-nosed marketer, just like her predecessor Jim “Sugar Daddy” Ritts.
When the Wall Street Journal ran a story several weeks ago about a new intense brand of Gatorade being introduced, Obligation wrote Channel One News and asked them to not advertised the new “Endurance Formula” Gatorade on their show.
The new product has twice as much sodium ( 200 mg.) as the original Gatorade. More sodium is not what teens and preteens need. This new Gatorade also has three times the potassium as the original. Many experts consider the original Gatorade as unnecessary calories and minerals for most of its users. Gatorade is one of Channel One’s most loyal advertisers. Each Friday, Channel One devotes an entire section of their show to the “Gatorade Play of the Week” which is nothing but a extra-long Gatorade commercial.
Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, “This appears to be the first big decision by Ms. Harris. She is evidently ready to play ‘hard ball’ with the health of America’s schoolchildren. Gatorade is a junk drink. It makes Channel One News a lot of money, but it should not be advertised in our classrooms. We dread to see what Ms. Harris decides to advertise next.”
Above is a screen shot from one of the new controversial Gatorade commercials on Channel One News. The ad ran not only in high schools but in the middle and elementary schools that still have Channel One. (Yes, they have some elementary schools under contract.)
In this ad, children see athletes competing against one another. The ones who have consumed Gatorade Endurance are scoring goals and winning races. The ones who did not use Gatorade Endurance are literally crumbling to pieces. The soccer player you see above is running past the broken pieces of the player who was too dumb to buy the new Gatorade product. This ad is a lie. This company is lying to children. Of course, even the youngest viewer knows no one is going to fall apart like a broken statue if they don’t drink Gatorade, but the subtext of this ad is powerful and untruthful: you cannot compete unless you buy and drink our very expensive water substitute.
