First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon

by Darren Rovell

Book Overview

Gatorade is an enthralling story, brought to life in bright color and sharp detail in this book as journalist and author Darren Rovell chronicles every astonishing milestone of the company's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814472990
• ISBN13: 9780814472996
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: AMACOM/American Management Association
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 17 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

The Business of Drinking - and Product Placement

A highly-informative book written with love by a dogged sports business researcher. It is incredible to me that the University of Florida was so unsupportive of their faculty during the nascent days of the product, yet had its hand out when the money started rolling in. You don't have to be interested in industry to enjoy this book!

Great Read

I read through this book one night recently and it's a great read. The insight into the history and buisness dealings of Gatorade kept me glued to the book; I had to read it in one sitting. Many of my Gatorade questions were answered; I recall watching the Mia Hamm 'Thank You' Gatorade commercial with my wife and wondering why Michael Jordan was in it. First in Thirst explained their 'competititon' commercial and helped explain the backstory of how that ended up on the air, which led me to understand why MJ was in Mia's 'thank you'. I thought each chapter was well organized and thorough. I liked the treats at the end of the book, such as the list of Gatorade US flavor releases (what a trip down memory lane of my years running cross country) and the Bill Parcells memos. That's some great history archived there. All in all, well done. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and I'm sure in a number of years I'll pick it up off my bookshelf and go through it again.

Five Stars for the first Gatorade Sports Business Book

Rovell quenched my need for the first riveting Gatorade sports marketing book ever written. He didn't miss a beat in his passionate chronicle of Gatorade's inventors, memorable moments in sports history and Gatorade's rise to become an iconic brand. Rovell's journalistic integrity and skillful writing was quite evident and made me not want to put the book down. Rovell has given me the gift of a perfect, light hearted, easy read that anyone will enjoy.

A Story Told With Dual Utility

As a marketing professional who has probably read too many books on the topic, I've found these books to be functional only to either educate or entertain, but rarely both. In "First in Thirst," Rovell brings a storytelling ease to a wonderful and insightful look at the rise of one of America's greatest brands. This wonderful "beach book" quality is not diminished by the lessons explicitly outlined as the culmination of the Gatorade story.

great book

Rovell brings his unique talents from espn.com to the hardcover. At first I wondered if I needed to be interested in gatorade or sports business to enjoy this book. I quickly found out I was wrong. The tale of gatorade is a human interest story that can be enjoyed by any reader regardless of his sports or business knowledge. Rovell's storytelling gives life to a bottle of funny colored liquid.