Sydney Sweeney is facing backlash over a Novig ad that put her in a sexualized sports promotion and left social media users arguing that the campaign crossed a line. The Wednesday partnership was meant to introduce the new sports trading app, but the images of Sweeney’s mostly naked body covered with sports balls and uniforms quickly became the story.
That is why the Sydney Sweeney ad is being searched now: it landed with the kind of instant reaction brands try to avoid and spread fast enough to pull in millions of views. Novig launched last month and brought Sweeney in as a strategic partner and equity holder, using her name to help support a platform it says combines the mechanics of modern financial exchanges with a sports-first experience.
What viewers saw was not subtle. The promotion used multiple shots of Sweeney’s body with sports balls and uniforms placed across it, a visual choice that users called disgusting, pathetic, sad and inappropriate. Some said the material could have carried an R-rated warning, while one TikTok user said she had to tell her two children to look away from the TV after the ad appeared in the living room.
Marissa Womack, who posted a TikTok video criticizing the campaign, said the reaction was not about envy or insecurity. It was about what women in sports are up against, she said, describing the field as already male-dominated and arguing that when the only representation is sexualization, fewer young women will want to enter it. That complaint cut straight through Sweeney’s own explanation that the campaign was meant to focus entirely on sports and embrace a fun idea.
Novig says it keeps a 21+ age requirement and argues that is a higher standard for responsible participation as the category grows. But that defense has done little to blunt the criticism, especially from users who pointed to the ad’s reach, with one Instagram post noting 22.4 million views but not even 1 million likes. Another user accused Instagram of allowing the ad while removing bikini posts from ordinary users.
The open question now is whether Novig or Sweeney will answer the backlash directly. For now, the campaign has done what marketing teams usually fear most: it put the product in the background and turned the person in the ad into the controversy.
