Entertainment

Bai Is Somehow Even Better Than Its Super Bowl Ad

by Maitri Suhas

Super Bowl 50 is just around the corner, and, if you're like me and only watch football because I live with my best friend and her boyfriend, you are probably not that thrilled for the sports part. But there's plenty for everyone in Super Bowl 50, including but not limited to the halftime show, the puppy bowl, and, of course, the ads. Among the giants like Hyundai with a charming Ryan Reynolds spokesman, and T-Mobile with their Drake commercial, a beverage called Bai has a spot this year in the Super Bowl 50 commercial lineup. But what is Bai from the Super Bowl 50 commercial?

Apparently, according to their own @DrinkBai Twitter, Bai energy drinks are "healthy beverages with an attitude. Not like, a BAD attitude, but some." Their location: Your Mouthhole, which makes me laugh, but I'm an easy laugh. On the website, there's more nutritional information: Bai is an "antioxidant cocofusion," made from a fruit that is normally tossed in the garbage: the fruit of the coffee plant. On Bai's website, they explain their love and use of the oft-tossed away coffeefruit:

The coffee bean is actually the center of the coffeefruit. And while we at Bai love a good cup of joe, we’re pretty pumped about repurposing the outside of the fruit, too. See, the coffeefruit’s red pulp has free-radical fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants help maintain your body’s natural protections against potentially damaging process such as oxidation. In other words, antioxidants are like your body’s bodyguard.

As for the name, Bai does double duty: it means "pure" in Mandarin, and it's also an acronym for Botanical Antioxidant Infusions. Their kicker is that Bai only has five calories. In fact, that's the theme of their Super Bowl commercial and, it seems, part of their brand; it doesn't make sense that Bai should taste so good and have so few calories. It's just gosh darn confusing. That's the point of their "None Of This Makes Sense" campaign, which Bai launched in 2015. (I actually haven't tried the drink, but I want to now. Advertising got me good again.)

Their Super Bowl spot, "El Guapo," uses the metaphor of a white guy named El Guapo, who explains, as he walks backstage drinking a Bai drink, that it should in no way make sense that he should be a Latin pop star — but Bai shouldn't taste so good and be so good for you and yet it does. Isn't that crazy?

Though I haven't tried the drink yet, I do really love their Twitter. All of their photos have amazing puns. I respect that in a brand.

If you want to learn tons more about where Bai sources their coffeefruit and how sustainable the company's practices are, check out their website. They actually have a great breakdown of what exactly antioxidants are and how they work to keep your body in tip-top shape.

Image: BaiAntioxidantInfusions/YouTube