Is anything really authentic in sports advertising?

I yak about authenticity being the end-all, be-all in sports advertising.

But consider this possibility:

Nothing in sports advertising is truly authentic. Because my definition of authentic may differ from yours.

We once shot a Gatorade spot called “Get Up,” featuring the James Brown track of the same name. It was about athletes who return to action, more fired up than before, after getting knocked down. One of the vignettes showed a catcher getting a throw from the outfield and blocking the plate. The throw comes in high, and he runner slams into the catcher, who gets sent flying but holds onto the ball, still dripping Gatorade’s trademarked colored sweat.

The group of us who were responsible for making the ad had days-long debates on whether or not the baserunner should barrel over the catcher or try to slide around him, since the throw came in high. Serious disagreements and strong opinions. Pens were thrown. Paper was ripped. It was nuts!

Ultimately, we agreed to disagree , but the losing side was not happy and felt we had compromised the ad with action that wasn’t as authentic as it could be.

Did we get crazed letters? No. Did it make the ad any less good? No. Did it put a chink in Gatorade’s armor of authenticity? Some would say yes.

Truth is, we make stuff up when we make ads. We have to fake it. When you fake it poorly, you get busted. When you fake it well, you look like you know what you’re talking about. Which makes you even more authentic. Ironic, isn’t it?

So who’s to say what’s truly authentic?

Authenticity. Seriously.

In 2005, we made a Gatorade spot called Winning Formula. It was created to demonstrate the precision behind the formulation of Gatorade and the science involved. To prove how the smallest of differences can profoundly affect an outcome, we changed three iconic moments in sports history: we made Michael Jordan’s shot over Craig Ehlo roll out of the hoop, we caused Joe Montana’s pass to fly just over Dwight Clark’s outstretched hands, and we made Derek Jeter’s flip to Posada a fraction too late to nail Jason Giambi at the plate.



To recreate these events, we did ridiculously comprehensive research. We talked to cameramen who shot the original video to get the right film stocks, camera lenses, and angles to make sure it looked absolutely real.

We plotted the angles to make sure the balls matched the flight of the balls that Jordan, Montana, and Jeter threw. We had the actors who played the ref and ump watch the original footage over and over so they could call Montana’s pass incomplete and call Jason Giambi safe at home with the exact same motion that the original ref and ump called the touchdown good and Giambi out.

The jerseys are exact replicas, down to the shoes. The playing surfaces were recreated to the original specifications, down to the chalk marks, floor markings, and height of the grass. Even the haircuts were perfect matches. And even if you couldn’t tell that by looking at the film, we’d have done it that way.

Gatorade was so successful for so many years because they respected authenticity above just about everything. Because without it you’re a cheater and a pretender and nobody should ever trust you as a sports authority ever again. Even if you do it just one eentsy weentsy little time.

Seriously.

I truly believe that if we had missed on anything, we would have been called out, and the commercial wouldn’t have been so believable—or received as much positive buzz. The irony is, to make this spot feel completely real, we had to do a tremendous amount of faking. But that’s movie magic. You’re watching it all the time without knowing it. And it’s a big part of making sports ads authentic.

Great Sports Ads: There aren't rules. But there are ways.

Greatest sports commercial ever? Debatable. Lotta great ones. The lists are like implants in LA. Everyone’s got (at least) one.

The hard part is getting on one of those lists. How do you make a great sports commercial?

MJ’s in a lot of the great ones, and Tiger, too. Just use one of those guys, right? Not so fast. Just having a superstar doesn’t guarantee squat. If anything, it makes it more challenging, because you have such an amazing property at your fingertips with such incredible potential, and the stakes are raised.

So it’s not so easy. Seems like it should be, but it’s kind of like making really grilled cheese. Much like the true experts know how to work the grill so the bread is the right crispyness and the cheese is the perfect meltyness, there are ways.

Ways, I said. Not rules. You could even say principles.

The first one may be as obvious as it is immutable and unshakable. And as close to a rule as it gets:

Authenticity. Authenticity, Authenticity, Authenticity.

When I see sports advertising, I want to pick out details that prove that the brand knows it’s stuff. I want to see a real player from a real opposing team, or a certain stadium or ref or umpire who I recognize. There’s nothing I hate more than uniforms that came straight from the prop department. Or opponents who get chosen from a casting session instead of plucked off a basketball court.

There’s no detail too small to ignore. It takes unrelenting obsession. Fanaticism? Sure. Compulsiveness? absolutely. All in the interest of getting it right. If you aren’t all about that, go make ads for soft drinks.

But who’s to say what’s authentic and what’s not? Good question. More on that to come.