In L.A., Tom Hoffarth notes every Dodgers ticket holder is "given a MLB-certified and licensed towel" as they enter Dodger Stadium for one of the team's '13 playoff games. The towel on Monday was white, "emblazoned with a blue 'LA' interlocking logo and a patch commemorating the postseason," and yesterday it was a "solid blue motif." Dodgers radio announcer Vin Scully thought the switch to blue was a mistake, saying, "It doesn’t have the same effect (as the white towels). It’s like playing golf with a green ball. You just lose it." The team for Game 5 of the NLCS today is "going back to white," but considering the Dodgers lost last night, it was "perhaps too late" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 10/16).
THIRSTY THURSDAYS: AD AGE's Natalie Zmuda noted Sprite is "introducing a new campaign from agency Translation this week, which carries the tagline 'For The Thirsty.'" The effort is a "nod to 'Obey Your Thirst,' the long running Sprite campaign" that was discontinued in '10. The spot shows Heat F LeBron James, "as well as a marching band member, a biker, a mime and other characters screaming before cracking open a Sprite, while a voiceover says, 'Sprite, For The Thirsty'" (ADAGE.com, 10/14).
WHITE GOING DOWN UNDER: USA TODAY's Rachel Axon noted U.S. snowboarder Shaun White "will work on tricks in Australia after GoPro, one of his sponsors, worked with SnowPark Technologies to build him a custom halfpipe and slopestyle features." White trained for the '10 Vancouver Games "on a halfpipe in Colorado built by Red Bull, a former sponsor" (USATODAY.com, 10/15).
GATORADE'S NEW BOTTLES: BEVNET.com's Jeffrey Klineman reported Gatorade is "rolling out its first major packaging change to its big bottle since it moved from glass into plastic." The new "grippable" 28 oz. size is "curved inward, and the wrap is much tighter." Gatorade Senior Manager of Sales Planning Bob Maguire said that the company's labels were a "big win for the brand." He said that the new bottles are "rolling out in the entire southern half of the U.S. after the first of the year." The move comes amid the sports drink industry's "major revamp of packaging formats in place designed to appeal to the 13-35 year-old kids, athletes, and physical workers who head to convenience for their electrolyte fix" (BEVNET.com, 10/15).
