A high-profile advertising campaign for the US sports-prediction platform Novig has sparked significant backlash from female athletes, who argue that the promotional materials are “hypersexualized.” The campaign features actress Sydney Sweeney in a series of images and videos, often appearing nude or scantily clad while posed alongside various pieces of sporting equipment, including baseball bats, tennis rackets, and footballs. In one prominent visual, the actress is depicted lying naked across a basketball.
The intensity of the response has been widespread, with professional athletes describing the campaign as a major setback for the perception of women in athletics. Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer stated in an interview that the 42-second commercial is “very damaging” to female athletes and young girls attempting to enter the sports world. Emphasizing that women should be recognized for their physical capabilities rather than their appearance, she expressed total disbelief regarding the creative direction of the ad.
Other prominent sports figures have joined the criticism. British sprinter Amy Hunt directly contrasted the campaign’s imagery with the reality of athletic training in a post-race interview, stating, “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like: muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, and tears.” Similarly, four-time Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus posted on social media that she felt “infuriated” by the ad, labeling it a “kick in the face” to every woman who has dedicated her life to excellence in sport.
The controversy has also seen athletes like swimmer Lani Pallister and boxer Skye Nicholson posting their own training montages to highlight what sport truly entails, contrasting their hard work with the aesthetic choices of the Novig commercial. Retired US gymnast Gracie Kramer echoed these sentiments, noting that the advertisement feels like a massive step backward for female athletes who have long struggled to be viewed primarily as competitors. The Novig campaign, which also featured an Instagram Reel that amassed 37 million views within four days, has prompted calls for companies to adopt more respectful standards in their marketing.
In response to the mounting criticism, Sweeney shared a series of photos originating from ESPN The Magazine’s former “Body Issue,” which featured various athletes in nude or semi-nude artistic portraits during its run, which concluded in 2019. This is not the first instance of Sweeney facing public scrutiny over an advertising partnership. In the summer of 2025, a campaign she fronted for the brand American Eagle drew backlash for its inclusion of language that some critics argued promoted eugenics and white supremacism. During a subsequent interview with GQ in November, Sweeney addressed the fallout from that earlier controversy by maintaining that when she has an issue she wishes to address, people will eventually hear her, though she stopped short of apologizing for the campaign content. The report also notes that “Just absolute utter disbelief, incredibly disappointing, like, how far you can put women’s sports backwards in the space of a 42-second commercial,” she said to, adding that the campaign “is very damaging, especially for young females getting into sport, for females in sport, for females in general, just hypersexualized content.”. The report also notes that “Giving the ad campaign exactly what they wanted, but honestly these companies need to do better 🙄 Stop sexualising women in #sport,” reads the caption. The report also notes that “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,” wrote Kramer, who added that the ad “feels like a massive step backward.”. The report also notes that the yearly edition featured dozens of athletes either naked or semi-nude during an 11-year run that came to an end in 2019. The report also notes that “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” she says in one ad. The report also notes that in another, she claims that “my body’s composition is determined by my genes.”.
