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| Sydney Sweeney in the advertisement for sports prediction platform Novig. Photo by Instagram/@sydney_sweeney |
The minute-long advertising campaign, published on Sept. 9, opens with Sweeney posing nude, using two American footballs to cover her chest.
"Think you know sports? Prove it," she said in the ad.
In the following scenes, the actress appears wearing little to no clothing and posing in different sports, including sitting nude on a basketball rim, squatting in front of an ice hockey goal, and lying on a football pad.
Many female athletes criticized the ad, arguing that it sexualized women and downplayed their efforts in sports.
Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, expressed her outrage upon seeing the ad.
"Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who had dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is - teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity," she wrote on Instagram. "How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman's body and sexualizing women's sport is still a thing?"
British track and field athlete Amy Hunt, after finishing fourth in the 200m event at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 13, looked directly into the camera and sent a message to the actress.
"Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like," she told BBC.
Hunt also mentioned fellow competitor Melissa Jefferson's winning time of 21.47 seconds, the fourth-fastest mark in the history of the event.
"21.4. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears," she added. "When you’re a woman in sport, it’s not pretty. It’s not glamorous. It’s not sexy all the time, definitely."
Former American gymnast Gracie Kramer also responded to the ad by posting a video of her intense training and competition, stating that she has spent her entire life competing in a sport where female athletes are frequently sexualized, judged by their bodies, and forced to fight for recognition of their actual athletic ability.
Her message quickly resonated with other professionals. Australian swimmer Lani Pallister and sprinter Bree Rizzo also shared videos highlighting their training, competitions and achievements.
Sydney Sweeney's commercial ad for Novig. Video by Instagram/@sydney_sweeney
The Australian Institute of Sport released a video showcasing various aspects of women's sports, ranging from archery, gymnastics, and boxing to the sports science supporting the athletes.
Sofie Fella, a Chinese-German rugby player, argued that female athletes should serve as role models for girls and women by defying stereotypes regarding beauty and femininity. She viewed Sweeney's ad as disrespectful to female athletes worldwide, according to The Guardian.
Australian boxing champion Skye Nicolson added that the core issue lay in how the ad utilized sexualized women to sell sports-related products.
"There's a big difference between looking 'sexy' because you do sport compared to using sex to sell 'sport'," she wrote on Instagram.
Water polo silver medalist Tilly Kearns wrote: "I absolutely f**king hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad."
Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer told CNN that the 42-second ad was "very damaging" for female athletes and young girls looking to get into sport.
While some social media users have argued that criticism should be directed solely at the Novig brand rather than Sweeney, the actress serves as more than just the face of the company. She is also a strategic partner and shareholder.
According to Hill, Sweeney reportedly contacted the platform to participate in the campaign. Novig CEO told Front Office Sports that it was Sweeney who drove a lot of the visuals and the messaging.
Sweeney has not publicly responded to the criticism surrounding the commercial. However, in a move that appeared linked to the ongoing controversy, she posted a series of cover photos last weekend from ESPN The Magazine's "Body Issue", an annual publication featuring athletes posing nude or semi-nude in a celebration of body diversity.
Sweeney, 28, a two-time Emmy nominee, is known for her roles in HBO series "Euphoria" and "The White Lotus", as well as other movies such as "Anyone but You", "Christy" and "The Housemaid".
This is not the first time an advertising campaign featuring Sweeney has sparked debate. In 2025, an American Eagle jeans commercial that played on the words "jeans" and "genes" faced a wave of backlash after many argued that the messaging evoked eugenics.
At the time, Sweeney stated she had no intention of telling people how to think, though she later acknowledged that remaining silent during the controversy had only extended the divide.
