American actor Sydney Sweeney has stirred up controversy after starring in an ad for sports prediction app Novig. The ad has caused widespread criticism from the public due to the sexualization of women in sports.
In the ad titled Novig is Just Sports it features Sweeney in various scenes wearing minimal clothing while utilizing different sports equipment to obscure her body. Alongside their tagline “Just Sports” in the ad, Novig stresses that they are dedicated exclusively to sports predictions, separating themselves from other prediction markets that allow you to place bets on other subjects such as politics.
Following the ad’s release, it has faced widespread criticism and outrage from the public, stressing that the ad is disrespectful to female athletes and women working in the sports industry. People have gone to various social media platforms such as Instagram, X, and TikTok to voice their opinions on the ad.
Former U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer took to her Instagram, calling the ad infuriating, saying, “I’ve spent my entire life competing in a sport where female athletes have been oversexualized, reduced to our bodies, and forced to fight to be taken seriously for what we can actually do.”
Alongside Kramer, four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus wrote on her Instagram, “I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport is still a thing?”
During a post-race interview with the BBC, British sprinter Amy Hunt states, “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like. Muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, tears.”, after finishing fourth in the 200 meters at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary.
Despite the controversy of the ad, TikTok users have rallied together to respond to Novig’s ad by making various edits highlighting women in the sports industry as well as female athletes utilizing the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from the Disney film Mulan. Rather than allowing the ad to tear down female athletes and women working in the sports industry, the trend has allowed for women to reclaim what it means to be a female athlete and a woman working in the sports industry.
At the time of publication, neither Novig nor Sydney Sweeney had publicly addressed the backlash following the release of the ad.