Be Like Mike
Gatorade1991
Be Like Mike is a 1991 television commercial and jingle for Gatorade, created by Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, Chicago.
The line
Sometimes I dream that he is me. Be like Mike.
Why it works
The jingle that defined athlete aspiration — written on a tablecloth in a crisis. Gatorade had just signed Michael Jordan when Disney demanded too much to license The Jungle Book's "I Wan'na Be Like You," the planned soundtrack. Creative director Bernie Pitzel wrote replacement lyrics in hours at his favourite Chicago restaurant; composers Ira Antelis and Steve Shafer built the melody over a weekend; and "Be Like Mike" launched on August 8, 1991, footage of Jordan laughing and playing with kids over a song people requested on the radio. It is studied as the purest distillation of aspirational endorsement — not 'buy what he drinks' but 'become him' — and as a study in creative constraint: the forced rewrite produced something far bigger than the licensed original would have been.
Techniques
- Testimonial and endorsement Footage of Jordan laughing and playing with children invites viewers not just to drink what he drinks but to become like him.
- Jingles and music A catchy song wishing to be like Mike carries the whole aspiration, popular enough that listeners request it on the radio.
Sources · 2
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