On April 19, Gatorade’s new star-studded commercial will debut during the first round of the NBA playoffs. The ad features and is narrated by Compton, Calif., rapper Kendrick Lamar, with appearances from Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić, and Shedeur Sanders.
The ad is part of the company’s “Lose more. Win more.” campaign.
Gatorade Pays Tribute to Its Beginnings
As the company celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2025, the ad delves into Gatorade’s iconic history, with Lamar narrating the story of its inception. Per Sports Business Journal, the company’s CBO, Anuj Bhasin, said that the decision to partner with Lamar was due to the rapper’s hard-working and limit-testing nature.
The commercial begins with footage of Philadelphia Eagles wide receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown showering their head coach, Nick Sirianni, with a bucket of Gatorade. The footage was taken from the Eagles’ recent victory at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans. The video then quickly jumps to images of Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen coming to terms with heartbreaking losses as the celebratory mood takes a dark turn.
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Dončić, Clark, Wilson, and Tatum are then pictured with similarly despairing demeanors after painful defeats. The melancholy montage sets the scene for the story of the 1965 Florida Gators. Lamar talks viewers through the story of the birth of Gatorade, a drink scientifically designed to help the college team overcome the physical punishment of the Florida heat.
The aforementioned superstars are then seen practicing in the gym as Lamar continues his inspiring narration. Lamar is then pictured mid-push-up, in a possible reference to Toronto rapper Drake’s diss track “Push Ups (Drop & Give Me 50),” which was aimed at Lamar.
Kendrick Lamar Continues Hot Streak in 2025
It’s been a phenomenal past year for Lamar. In May 2024, the rapper released “Not Like Us,” his fifth diss track aimed at Drake. The track, in many eyes, confirmed his victory over his rival, but it also saw monumental commercial success.
The track has, at the time of writing, been listened to over 1.4 billion times on Spotify alone and was nominated for five Grammys, winning all five. The track received the awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video.
Due to the nature of the track, many wondered if Lamar would be forced to leave out sections of the song during his Super Bowl 59 halftime show performance. The rapper did refrain from vocalizing some of the more controversial lines in the song, but was helped out by the rapturous engagement of the reported 65,719 fans in attendance.
Lamar embarks on his “Grand National Tour” on the same day that the commercial is released. The tour, featuring co-headliner SZA, will take in 13 different countries across 39 stadium shows and bookends an incredible year for the rapper.