Powerade wrote mental-health pauses into its athlete sponsorship contracts

Since 2022 Powerade had argued that pausing for mental well-being is strength, not weakness. But its own athlete sponsorship agreements protected physical injuries while saying nothing about mental health breaks — the exact contradiction the brand claimed to fight.

The Athletes Code was a contractual provision added to every Powerade athlete contract, drafted with athletes, mental-health advocates and legal experts, guaranteeing that pausing for mental well-being would not jeopardize sponsorship. New contracts went to 19 athletes chosen for their own experiences with that lack of support.

Launch films told their stories, turning a legal change into a movement. The campaign reached 766 million people across PR and social, with 376 media outlets including Forbes, ESPN and USA Today covering the initiative, and 100% positive sentiment on social channels.