beverages

Gatorade Recruits NFL Players To Promote Caffeinated Energy Drink Fast Twitch


 

Nearly 60 years after its creation, sports-oriented hydration beverage Gatorade is ramping up for entry into the caffeinated energy drinks category with the sub-brand Fast Twitch.

What hasn’t changed is Gatorade’s reliance on athletes as promoters.

Although Fast Twitch won’t be available in nationwide retail outlets until early 2023, it’s already been provided to National Football League players as part of Gatorade’s NFL sponsorship.

Three NFL players—Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers and DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks—are Fast Twitch brand ambassadors.

Sports fans were introduced to Fast Twitch during last week’s Amazon Prime Video broadcast of the game between the 49ers and the Seahawks.

In this spot from the Big Spaceship agency, Kittle and Diggs are seen getting hyped up to compete, accompanied by Gatorade’s first custom-written song—an original track by Guyanese-American rapper and singer known as SAINt JHN.

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Following the Thursday night game, Fast Twitch launched an Instagram profile and a 24-hour sweepstakes whose prize was a mini-refrigerator filled with the new 12-ounce bottled beverage.

Fast Twitch’s product attributes include B-vitamins, electrolytes, zero sugar and 200 milligrams of caffeine—nearly twice the amount of a 12-ounce can of Red Bull.

The Gatorade line extension follows the successful 2018 launch by PepsiCo Inc. of sugar-free Gatorade Zero.

“With regards to Fast Twitch, what we're seeing is that more and more athletes are drinking caffeine and then also hydrating during the game or before the game or at the end of the game,” PepsiCo chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta told financial analysts in October.

“So we think there is a role for Gatorade to play in that space, providing some additional stimulant to the performance, but also providing the hydration in one single consumption.”

Ahead of retail distribution, a 12-pack of Fast Twitch is available for purchase on Gatorade’s website for $23.99.

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