Public Health Activists Seek FTC Investigation of Gatorade TV Ad

A group of public health activists have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission suggesting that, in the case of a Gatorade TV commercial getting a lot of play this NBA playoff season, it's not such a good thing to "be Like Mike."

In a letter to the FTC commissioners, the Yale U Rudd Center, Center for Science in Public Interest and the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law (together, the Public Health Advocacy Institute) asked the FTC to investigate PepsiCo's ad , which features a stomach flu-stricken Michael Jordan apparently getting some help from a cup of Gatorade in his effort to play through the illness and help his team secure a win in game five (the "Flu" game) of the 1997 NBA finals (the Bulls won in six). They are seeking an investigation into the "Win From Within" ad, claiming it encourages teenagers to engage in "dangerous behavior" -- playing through illness -- and creates a false sequence of events to enhance Gatorade's role in the performance and uses deceptive product imagery. It says the FTC needs to investigate whether it was actually Gatorade in that cup, or water in a Gatorade-branded cup that was "enhanced" in the ad to look like Gatorade.