Gatorade yesterday unveiled a new commercial featuring Nationals LF Bryce Harper, with the MLBer promoting the brand's sports drink sub-brand Fierce in a spot "beginning to make the rounds on the Internet," according to Greg Otto of the WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL. In the "Face Off" spot, Harper "intensely stares down" a Marlins pitcher then "crushes the cover off a ball." The ball then "morphs into a glowing red orb of Harper's screaming aura." The ad is set to Guns N' Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle" (
BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/16). The spot, which is similar to another Gatorade
ad released last month featuring Pacers F Paul George, is part of an
extension MLB signed with PepsiCo earlier this month (
THE DAILY). YAHOO SPORTS' David Brown wrote, "The special effects of the liquid Gatorade world are impressive, and the creators seem to have captured Harper's personality perfectly" (
SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/16). In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski notes when Harper’s liner “begins to scream, it does so using Harper’s entire face, instead of mostly just a mouth.” Kantowski writes, “A lot of little kids admire Bryce Harper, but his screaming face might frighten tee ball players” (
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/17).
