Emma from Brig explores how Sydney Sweeney continues to be controversial by posing naked for sports gambling company Novig.
Setting feminism back
Actress Sydney Sweeney poses nude with nothing but sports balls to protect her modesty in an advert that was published this September. Let’s be honest, the point of the advert was never to advertise the company Novig, it was to get people talking- and it’s working.
I personally don’t agree with the viewpoint that she’s setting feminism back. I don’t think feminism can be set back by a single action from one woman. Sweeney isn’t the first woman to use sex appeal to advertise something, and she won’t be the last.
The concept of feminism is a mindset towards achieving equality between genders. Whilst Sweeney’s advert is controversial for sexualising women who play sports, it has caused a lot of people to think about what feminism means to them. By keeping people talking about feminism, it keeps prominent issues relevant. Female athletes are tired of being sexualised.
Moreso, I think Sweeney is not a great role model for little girls who want to start playing sports. I personally feel that there are so many wonderful women in the sporting world for little girls to look up to and that parents should try their best to moderate who their children have access to.
Either way, this sports advert isn’t the first controversy for Sweeney as she has a large track record for appearing naked…
Euphoria and jeans controversy
Sydney Sweeney plays Cassie in the American Hulu series Euphoria starring alongside other famous actresses like Zendaya. Cassie often appears nude on screen to enhance the plot of the episodes which take turns centring around each characters’ life.
Since Cassie portrays herself as being desperate for love, she often sexualises herself to appeal to men and many episodes detail her unsuccessful love life. Cassie’s character is messy and dysfunctional (she even dresses up as a dog in the newest season). Nudity makes sense for this series. Nudity doesn’t make sense for gambling websites.
Moreso, last year Sweeney was in an American Eagle jeans advert where she unknowingly or not hinted at white eugenics supremacy. The advert’s tagline read “Sweeney has great jeans.” The tone of the advert is comparable to historic propaganda about racial superiority. Does Sweeney have a terrible PR team or are her controversies purposefully planned so she stays relevant? I’d argue the latter.
Setting women in sports back
British sprinter Amy Hunt feels that Sweeney is misrepresenting women in sport. Hunt tells BBC that: “when we’re trying to provide role models for young people and young women in sport, we really want to show that it’s about what your body can do. Not so much what it looks like.”
Overall, I can understand why some female athletes feel that Sweeney’s advert takes away from the importance of the sport and places it onto sex appeal.
However, Sweeney plays boxer Christy Martin in one of her flopped movies Christy (2025) which required her to work out a lot to represent the boxer’s body accurately. But she still isn’t an athlete, so she would never be the ideal candidate for a sports related advert. She was just the ideal celebrity to break the internet, again.
It just feels like a very uncreative marketing decision to use a naked woman to sloppily advertise a product in place of a relevant athlete. Being naked in TV shows where consenting adults watch it is completely okay, but nudity for public adverts feels weird. However, if Sydney was actually wearing sports gear, I feel this advert could have been more family friendly, less controversial and a lot more tasteful.
Feature Image Credit: Pexels.com
Fourth Year English and Journalism Student