This was the last ad we produced for Gatorade while I was at Element 79. As we were in production, the client moved the business to another agency. Since they had already paid for the spot, we finished it believing it would never run. With no support from the new management at PepsiCo, a Gatorade brand manager loaded it to YouTube to share with his friends. In less than a week, “Ball Girl” became the viral video of the year, fueled by viewer debate over whether it really happened or not. Seeing the response, Gatorade reversed course and aired this as a television commercial.