A look back at Dr. Cade's legacy

The inventor of Gatorade, Dr. Robert Cade, passed away yesterday. And just like the commercials say, he was a University of Florida professor when he invented Gatorade. However, the story is a bit more interesting than that.

After Dr. Cade invented Gatorade, he offered rights to the drink to the University of Florida but the university turned him down. He then signed a deal with Stokley-Van Camp (now PepsiCo) and began selling it.

When sales took off UF asked for the patent rights, but Dr. Cade refused. He used some of the funds from his profits on Gatorade to set up scholarships and back local businesses. Florida sued him and locked up small businesses that were backed by the doctor. Eventually, an agreement was reached between Dr. Cade and Florida.

Classy school that Florida.

Anyway, unlike Florida, which preferred to squeeze Dr. Cade for money, we're going to remember the good doctor with some of the best and weirdest Gatorade commercials from the past, including ones all the way from South America, Japan, and China.


Here's the 1992 commercial that really cemented Gatorade as the sports drink of choice.



It's a good thing Gatorade bagged MJ, because before they did, their ads were like this one from 1983. Awful beyond belief.



One of my all-time favorites. Good D-Wade v. Bad D-Wade.



Here's a ridiculously weird Chinese ad featuring Yao Ming.



This commercial was awfully cool when it came out. Young MJ v. Old MJ.



Some more international flavor here, as Manu Ginobili battles the devil. Unfortunately, the devil didn't win.

Naturally, Gatorade also made its way to Japan, producing mind-altering commercials such as this one.



And just so you don't think Gatorade only did basketball, here's an ad featuring Sid the Kid.



And even though I don't like soccer much, I thought this was one of the best ads ever done by Gatorade.



And, last but not least, a baseball ad that I thought kind of sucked, but it was the only one I could find.

So cheers to you Dr. Cade. Your drink is tasty, has helped me recover from several food poisonings, and it even gave me a cavity or two. That's all I can ask of a sports drink.

-WCK