Social backlash hit the novig Sydney Sweeney ad as soon as it went live Wednesday. Sydney Sweeney partnered with Novig on the campaign after the sports trading app launched last month, and the response quickly shifted from promotion to criticism.
Marissa Womack, who manages game day promotions and programming for the Harrisburg Senators, said in a TikTok video that the issue was not personal jealousy but representation: “This [criticism] isn’t about me being jealous or insecure of [Sweeney]. … it’s about the fact that this is already a male-dominated field where we are constantly having to prove why we belong. it’s about having passions and joy working in this industry and when the only representation is sexualization, you see less and less young women wanting to pursue this industry!”
Novig's 21+ pitch
Novig says its platform combines the mechanics of modern financial exchanges with a sports-first experience, and it describes itself as the only prediction market to keep a 21+ age requirement. That makes the ad’s sexualized framing harder to shrug off as generic shock marketing: it is aimed at a platform built around sports, age gating, and a user base that is supposed to read as adult from the start.
The campaign shows multiple shots of Sweeney’s mostly naked body covered with different sports balls and uniforms. Some users argued that the ad should have carried an R-rated rating as well, and one TikTok user said they had to tell their two children to look away from the TV when it came on.
Sweeney's sports pitch
Sweeney said the campaign “was about embracing a fun idea.” She added, “The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humor and a playful edge.”
That explanation collides with what critics saw on screen: a sports campaign built around sexualized imagery rather than sport itself. The previous American Eagle ad controversy around Sweeney is part of why this one spread so quickly across TikTok and Instagram comments, where the argument was less about celebrity promotion than about how women are marketed inside a male-dominated industry.
Novig and Sydney Sweeney for
Novig and Sydney Sweeney for the campaign had not heard back after outreach by publication time. The sharpest unresolved issue is whether Novig expected a backlash that was tied this directly to the ad’s creative direction, or whether the campaign was designed without accounting for how fast that criticism would dominate the conversation.
