Sydney Sweeney’s “Just Sports” advertisement for the sports trading app Novig has gone viral, sparking a wave of backlash online. Thousands of female athletes have taken to social media, posting images and videos of themselves competing, training, and participating in their sports. In response to the ad’s portrayal of women in sports, the posts have highlighted representation, athleticism, and how society views female athletes.
Abby Jeong ’29 noticed that the ad focused more on attractiveness, particularly through its visual emphasis on Sweeney’s appearance, than on achievement in women’s sports.
“The ad suggests that women’s sports are not as ‘legit’ as men’s and are more for visual appeal than actual achievement. In fact, the only time Sweeney actually demonstrated a sport in the ad was a single golf swing, otherwise, it was just her posing nearly nude with sports equipment. In this way, the ad is associating ‘just sports’ with women’s bodies, insinuating that women’s role in sports is to look good playing them rather than playing well,” said Jeong.
The ad’s portrayal of Sweeney’s body also raised questions about the difference between sexualization and bodily confidence. Maddy Lehman ’27, Co-Captain of Girls Crew, questioned the ad’s presentation of women’s bodies and its connection to sports betting and sports as a whole.
“The way that she’s dressing and the way she’s talking about sports had nothing to do with the message the company was trying to send in terms of sports betting. It’s important to be confident in your body, but [the ad] wasn’t promoting body positivity or confidence. It was trying to sexualize sports in general. The best thing about women’s sports is that it’s a reminder of what your body can do instead of how it looks. Sydney Sweeney’s ad was negating that idea, saying that sports are just about how your body looks, [which] is completely missing the point,” said Lehman.
Similarly, Mason Carbone ’30 shared his perspective on the ad’s intention regarding female athletes and their appearances.
“It’s suggesting that the value of women in sports is purely appearance-based, even though it’s really not. And women have been working towards even being able to participate in sports for centuries. The whole goal of it was to promote that women’s sports are just looks-based. [Female] athletes have worked their entire lives to be where they are today, and her slander is definitely not helping that,” said Carbone.
He continued, “Their goal was just to make more money, and everybody’s falling for it, rightly so, because this is awful what she’s saying here. The company’s making more money off of people getting mad at Sydney Sweeney. Essentially, completely profit-driven. This has been going on for a while, but the American Eagle ad really proved this because American Eagle’s stock tripled after the ad. So, this [advertisement] proved it, and now companies like Novig are doing this same sort of formula.”
Contrary to Sweeney’s portrayal of female athletes, many athletes see their sport in terms of their personal goals and ability to practice sportsmanship. Chloe Ru ’27, a competitive swimmer, talks about the commitment and diligence behind each athlete.
“Athletes are so much more than their appearance. Their dedication to their sport, the way they support their teammates through sportsmanship, their discipline, hard work, and consistency… As a swimmer, I hope people notice more than just my times or how I place in my race, but more of my dedication to my sport, the amount of time and effort I have put into it, and the way I cheer for my teammates as well as how they cheer for me when I swim,” said Ru.
While the ad drew backlash, it also brought attention to women’s sports, as Lehman noted. As discussion spread across social media, female athletes shared videos of their own experiences under the caption “This is what women in sports look like.” Lehman noted a positive shift in representation of women athletes.
“Even though this ad definitely had negative responses, the upside of it was that it brought a lot of attention on social media to women’s sports because when something is controversial, it’s an opportunity to promote what you believe in and what you stand for. It’s been a great opportunity for women athletes to share their platform and show what women’s sports is about,” said Lehman.
