Element 79 AD Doug Behm had a dream: someday, athletes would pour like water from giant spouts, splashing on the ground. [In April 2003] his dream came true with the birth of a beautiful Michel Gondry-directed spot for Gatorade Propel water. In this :30, huge water drops splash against a gray tiled floor, morphing into athletes who pop up and dribble, skate, and swat their way towards the camera, illustrating the tag, "What if Gatorade made water?" Eventually the camera pulls back, revealing a bottle full of writhing athletes. "I just had to keep believing," says Behm of the long-term project, which involved filming the athletes underwater in an Olympic diving pool. "But now that it's come to life, it feels pretty good."
You can see the commercial at propelwater.com and martincasting.com.
Following Drip, there have been several Propel ads with the same general concept, here's the first sequel: "Surfaces," directed by Gerard de Thame.