PowerAde Zero. Zero Calories but a lot of Venus Williams
For all of you health conscious exercisers who are looking to replenish your electrolytes without all of the calories, you now have a choice. PowerAde Zero. Besides a choice, you also have a voice, erm, in the form of a spokeswoman; Venus Williams! From USA Today,
“PowerAde offers carbohydrates for those with intense workouts,” says Matt Kahn, vice president of marketing. “But there’s a whole group of calorie-conscious gymgoers. This is the first major brand to give hydration and electrolytes with zero calories.”
Tennis star Venus Williams will endorse the drink in print ads next week. Other ads in Us Weekly and Men’s Health will tout its zero calories vs. Gatorade products by showing calories per 8 ounces: 50 for Gatorade, 25 for G2 and 10 for flavored Propel Fitness Water.
My goodness. You know, I’ll never understand advertising for sports drinks. At least with Coke and Pepsi, you’re basically just getting a celebrity and making a commercial for your product…but sports drinks? A 25 calorie difference per 8 ounces between G2 and PowerAde Zero? I assume there has been research done that shows the calorie difference is a selling point, but if a majority of America is like me (which I think it is, in this case), if you drink PowerAde Zero over G2 it will be because of the taste.
As for Venus Williams, this is just another endorsement in the long line of successful endorsement deals. She signed the richest female endorsement deal with Reebok in 2001, has co-written a book with her sister, Serena, and has or has had endorsement deals with Wrigleys, Avon, Puma, and Nike among others. She also has her own clothing line, Eleven, which is featured on her personal website.
Obviously, it seems like PowerAde Zero is in good hands with Venus, and thankfully so, according to the USA Today article,
Volume for PowerAde’s line, which has 19% of the sports-drink market, slid 1.5% in the first quarter, according to trade publication Beverage Digest, while volume for all sports drinks grew 1.3% and Gatorade rose 2%. Reduced-calorie G2 has been out just four months and already has captured 8% of all sports-drink sales.
Guess I’ll have to go give it a try. G2 tastes pretty good though, so PowerAde Zero has its work cut out for itself.
USA Today: PowerAde’s zero-calorie sports drink takes on Gatorade
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G2 isn’t all that bad really. Would be interested in trying this one. Although I’m really not going to try it or check it out cause Venus says so. That’s for sure!