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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.
