Caitlin Clark-Gatorade ad explores new heights on JW Marriott hotel

Gatorade is taking its partnership with Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark to new heights, in the form of a towering advertisement on the side of downtown’s tallest hotel.

The sports-drink maker enlisted Indianapolis-based Sports Graphics Inc. to install the temporary, 205-foot-tall photo of Clark on the eastern face of the JW Marriott Indianapolis as part of the company’s “Is It In You” campaign. The 115-foot-wide graphic features the slogan along with the Gatorade and Fever logos and is part of the company’s revival of the same campaign that first debuted with Michael Jordan in the 1990s.

Gatorade previously hung a 150-foot banner celebrating Clark on the west side of the Hyatt Regency ahead of her WNBA debut. The company has a multiyear marketing deal with Clark that began when she was a player at the University of Iowa.

The JW Marriott advertisement was installed in late June and is expected to remain on the building through July 22. The graphic marks the first time a company has placed an obvious product advertisement on the 34-story hotel, although the facade has frequently been used to promote numerous local events and teams, including the the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, the Indy 500, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star 2024, the Indianapolis Colts and the NCAA Final Four.

Phil Ray, general manager for the hotel, said the goal of the advertisement is to celebrate Clark becoming part of the fabric of Indianapolis sports as a member of the Fever. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Gatorade and parent company PepsiCo Inc. initially sought to implement the advertisement earlier as part of the rollout of the revamped “Is It In You” campaign that began in May, with Clark as one of several athletes featured in a commercial voiced by Michael Jordan. But the JW Marriott was unable to accommodate the earlier request due to a swim trials graphic that debuted in early June.

“The discussion started as the season was about to get ready to go and and we had to wait until we got through USA Swimming to be able to do it, otherwise she would have been going up on the building even earlier,” Ray said. “With the level of her influence and the positive things she’s doing for Indianapolis, we just thought it was a natural fit to be able to take advantage of that and play a part in it … to put her up on the building.”

He said the Fever were supportive of the advertisement, and the team has since celebrated it on social media. Ray said he hasn’t heard anything negative about the advertisement, and it has drummed up a lot of interest and potential business.

Despite the attention the graphic has brought to the hotel, Ray said doesn’t expect—or want—the building to become a regular billboard for general advertisements. The hotel doesn’t solicit uses for the building’s facade as an advertising medium, instead considering requests on a case-by-case basis and only if they have strong ties to Indianapolis, he said.

“The only time we want to do it is when there’s something significant happening for the city,” Ray said. “When big events are happening in Indianapolis, if we can use our hotel to help promote that and take advantage of and celebrate those things … that’s great for the city.”