Vitamin Water, Try It

After talking to a friend last night, I was all set to come in and rip the Vitamin Water campaign. I remember not really liking it when I saw it, then when we realized the tag line was "try it," I was prepared to shit all over it. But today I watched them again and thought about what Vitamin Water was trying to accomplish: breaking into a Gatorade dominated market with a new product. And while I don't love the 50-Cent orchestra ad and kind of despise the Urlacher badminton one, I had never seen this:



I'm not all that familiar with Kelly Clarkston and normally wouldn't care, but that host cracks me up. "A cobra! Super rock and roll!" I had also never seen this one:



And the idea of athletes and stars trying something new kind of ties in with you, the consumer, trying something new (Vitamin Water). So "Try It" is not quite as weak as my pint-fueled discussion had led me to believe. Still, drinking Vitamin Water doesn't cause you to try or be better at new things, as the spots tend to imply. They would work better if the athlete randomly decided to try the new sport and also to try Vitamin Water. So I guess a B? B-.

The Hawk:

I'm a Hip-Hop and basketball fan, and wouldn't you know it, I like the T-Mac and 50 ads. The first time I saw McGrady in a kilt I was thinking: "Huh?", but then I realized he has a Scottish last name! Ha. As for the 50 Cent orchestra, while "old white man says Hip-Hop slang" is a major joke-in-a-can, sometimes it can be a little funny. Mostly I like that beat performed by an orchestra. Bottom line, these two probably appealed to the desired demographic, so maybe Kelly Clarkson's spot did too. These spots are all original, grab your attention and get the point across. B. Here's the 50 Cent ad: