A half- or completely naked woman lounges on a pool table, sits with her legs spread on a basketball hoop and hits a golf ball: The US sports betting provider Novig advertises its offer with such images. The film's leading actress is actress Sydney Sweeney, 29, who is now receiving heavy criticism for it.
Female athletes from various sports condemn the campaign as sexist and disrespectful. »As a former athlete and woman who has personally experienced sexualizing comments, I am truly disgusted and deeply disappointed by this campaign. We have fought for years to be seen and respected for our talent, our strength and our successes - and not limited to our bodies," wrote former Polish tennis player Zuzanna Dziewiecka on Instagram under the promotional video.
"It's just sport"
In the Novig campaign, Sweeney can be seen wearing a maximum of underwear or a jersey, but sometimes completely naked, playing with various sports equipment. For example, she lies on a pool table, stands in a hockey goal or balances balls on her fingers or feet. “It’s just sport,” she says.
Her colleague, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, also wrote on Instagram: "I can't describe how angry I am when I see this." Sweeney's promotional video was "not just a slap in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her sport, but to every woman who enjoys sport for its own sake." She thought this kind of "bullshit" marketing was a thing of the past, Titmus continued. "How can we live in a world where the commercialization of the female body and the sexualization of women's sports are still common practice?"
Australian sprinter Bree Rizzo also harshly criticized Sweeney: “There is so much more to women in sport than just their looks. It's about their strength, their skills, their dedication, their resilience, their confidence and everything they can achieve. “I want young girls who watch women in sports to see what their bodies can do, how powerful they are and everything they can achieve!!,” she wrote on Instagram.
Shitstorm for jeans advertising too
For Sweeney, this is not the first shitstorm that has arisen from an advertising campaign. Last year, the actress, known among other things from the hit series “Euphoria,” was seen on posters for the fashion company American Eagle. "Sydney Sweeney has great Jeans" was the slogan of the campaign - and apparently alluded to the harmony between jeans and "genes", the English word for genes.
Sweeney herself initially didn't comment on it, but later said in an interview that she was "surprised" by the reaction and claimed to People magazine at the end of the year: Anyone who knows her knows that she always tries to bring people together. “I am against hatred and division,” said the actress. So far, their attitude has been not to react at all to negative or positive press. But now it has become clear to her "that my silence on this issue has only widened the gap, not closed it."
She therefore hopes that in 2026 it will be “more about what connects us than about what divides us,” said Sweeney. It is questionable whether she succeeded in doing this with the Novig campaign.
