And you thought he only ate McNuggets.
After his epic performance at the London Olympics, Usain Bolt gets an epic commercial to match—this Gatorade spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day, in which the Jamaican sprinter is presented as a Grim Reaper of sorts, killing off any hopes that rivals might have had of finishing anywhere near him. Face obscured by a hoodie, Bolt stalks his way through London—its backstreets and byways, tunnels and parks—on his way to the Olympic Stadium, as the voiceover gloats about how Gatorade didn't have to advertise at the Games because it was already inside the athletes. "We weren't there on stadium billboards," the narrator begins. "We weren't there on double-decker buses. We weren't on buttons, souvenirs or commemorative snow globes. We weren't there officially sponsoring anything. We were there for real. Inside the bodies of some of the greatest athletes on earth."
Bolt enters an empty Olympic Stadium, pulls back his hood, and pops an orange Gatorade energy chew in his mouth. Suddenly, he's on the track, ready to make history as the crowd roars. Cut to the Gatorade logo and the hashtag #winfromwithin.
The spot is actually a recut version of one that broke a month ago, in which Bolt himself provided the voiceover—vowing never to stop until he had vanquished all opponents. Having done so in dramatic fashion in London, he's earned the right to brag—and so have the brands who snapped him up early as an endorser.
Now, if only Gatorade could move a little faster, and update Bolt's bio on its website.
CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles
Executive Creative Director: Patrick O'Neill
Global Group Creative Director: Brent Anderson
Global Group Creative Director: Steve Howard
Creative Director: Jayanta Jenkins
Creative Director, Copywriter: Linda Knight
Executive Producer: Sarah Patterson
Producers: Molly Tait, Michael Gross, Matthew Magsaysay
Executive Business Affairs Manager: Lisa Lipman
Group Planning Director: Scott MacMaster
Senior Planner: Marisa Robertson
Planner: Rebecca Harris
Worldwide Managing Director: Nick Drake
Group Account Director: Blake Crosbie
Management Supervisor: Magdalena Huber
Account Supervisor: Brad Nolde
Sports Marketing Account Executive: Lexi Vonderlieth
Music Supervisor: Michael Gross
Production Company: Untitled
Director: The Cronenweths
Executive Producer: Jim Evans
Head of Production: Geoff Campbell
General Manager: Larry Edwards
UPM: Kay Kelman
Director of Photography: Jeff Cronenweth
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Jaron Albertin
Executive Producers, Heads of Commercials: Brian Carmody, Patrick Milling Smith
Executive Producers: Lisa Rich, Allison Kunzman
Producers: Lisa Tauscher, Helen Hollien, Donald Taylor
Director of Photography: Linus Sandgren
Production Designer: Duncan Reed
Service Production Company: Mad Cow Films
Executive Producer: Pete Chambers
Producer: Jonas Blanchard
Production Manager: Melissa Fallon
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Executive Producer: Linda Carlson
Producer: Justin Kumpata
Editor: Angus Wall
Assistant Editor: Austyn Daines
Visual Effects: The Mill
Visual Effects Producer: Enca Kaul
2-D Lead: Billy Higgins
Design Art Director: Tom O’Neill
Design Producer: Luscia Boryczko
Music: Original Music by Human
Final Mix: Lime