As a Gatorade marketing query, “Is It In You?” predates Flagg by almost 20 years.

First unveiled by Foote, Cone, and Belding Chicago in the late 1990s, the campaign was a sports marketing classic that featured black-and-white images of athletes dripping with Gatorade-colored sweat that made consuming the sports drink the difference between success and failure—even for accomplished pitchman Michael Jordan. 

Last year, during the NBA playoffs, PepsiCo’s Gatorade and creative partners TBWA\Chiat\Day reconsidered the campaign for the modern era, bringing  back Jordan to narrate the new 60-second lead spot—”It Hasn’t Changed”—and adding Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Jayson Tatum, Josh Allen, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone to address a different “it.”

“There is a significant rise in youth participation declines,” said Anuj Bhasin, Gatorade’s chief brand officer. “Sports isn’t the way that it was before for them.”

Bhasin cited Gatorade’s research that found that 53% of young athletes stop playing because of external pressures, including mental health, criticism, doubt, and hype culture. However, clinical data suggests that may be an underestimate. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that 70% of athletes under the age of 13 drop out of youth sports after a combination of overtraining, overuse injuries, and burnout.

Much as the “Is It In You” campaign’s revival was meant to reverse youth athlete burnout, this next step is meant to show all aspects of the journey for stars who make it through.

“Our brand has a storied history of partnering with generational young talent and fueling them on their way to being some of the greatest athletes in the world,” said Jeff Kearney, Gatorade’s global head of sports marketing. “Our college basketball campaign is all about elevating the voices of those athletes and spotlighting all that they put in to win.”