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The 1991 Gatorade commercial featuring Michael Jordan, mentioned in The Last Dance, continues to be one of the most recognizable ads of all time, mainly due to the popularity of its catchy tune “Be Like Mike.”
The song has aged quite nicely. The ad on Michael Jordan was even remastered during Gatorade's 50th anniversary back in 2015.
However, according to the song's creator, Bernie Pitzel, the song almost never made it public since he felt it was lackluster at first and mimicked Michael Jordan’s early Nike commercials.
Per Gary Gerard Hamilton of the Associated Press, the advertising executive shared that he was inspired by Disney’s 1967 film “The Jungle Book” and altered several lines to the song which was initially titled “I Wanna Be Like You”. His mock-up was quickly embraced by all parties involved.
But Pitzel still had to get approval from Disney to use the “Jungle Book.” Ultimately, they scratched the idea since Disney asked for too much money. The story of Michael Jordan might not have featured this chapter.
Pitzel did not relent, however. He created new lyrics while inside a restaurant he frequently brainstormed at. As it turns out, “Be Like Mike” was originally penned on a paper cloth and was faxed to a few music production houses while still at the restaurant. The rest, on Michael Jordan and advertising, was history.
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“I heard that instrumental opening that I’m like, ‘Oh, my God. We got it,’ Pitzel said. “As it turned out, it was way better that I wrote the song because that’s what people remember. If we’d just done it with the ‘Jungle Book’ music, it would have been a cute little spot, but it never would have resonated like it did,” Pitzel recalled.
The melodic jingle was crafted the following day and received positive reviews from audiences who respected Michael Jordan.
The “Be Like Mike” song, meanwhile, was briefly shown in ESPN's popular docuseries “The Last Dance.” Although it was inadvertently, we all have Disney to thank for giving birth to such an iconic tune on Michael Jordan.
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