Sports

Dwyane Wade Goes Undercover as Nerd in Gatorade Ad

Adopting an alter ego for a commercial is a time-honored tradition among NBA players. There was Larry Johnson's Grandma Ma, Penny Hardaway's Lil Penny, and of course LeBron James's multi-personality turn in Nike's "The LeBrons" commercials. Now Dwyane Wade has joined the tradition, shilling for Gatorade as a sports store clerk...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

August 25, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Editor Picks / STN Combo",
          "component": "17482312",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482310",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482313",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Adopting an alter ego for a commercial is a time-honored tradition among NBA players. There was Larry Johnson's Grandma Ma, Penny Hardaway's Lil Penny, and of course LeBron James's multi-personality turn in Nike's "The LeBrons" commercials. Now Dwyane Wade has joined the tradition, shilling for Gatorade as a sports store clerk named Gordon.

The ad, which seems to be online only, features Wade going undercover as the dorky Gordon at a Dick's Sportings Goods to shill for Gatorade's G Series line. No one seems to recognize him, probably because there are no Dick's Sporting Goods in Miami-Dade and the commercial was probably filmed somewhere where Wade's fame is a little less intense.

Wade does his job well, and it's not his fault the ad men couldn't come up with a more clever commercial. But as far as basketball-star-alter-ego commercials go, this one doesn't really rank with the classics. Maybe next time he'll be able to compete with LeBron.

Keep

Free

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1.