Sydney Sweeney’s provocative sports ad 'reinforces the image she has already built' despite backlash: expert
Sydney Sweeney sparked backlash across the aisles following the release of her provocative campaign for a sports trading app.
No stranger to controversy or criticism, Sweeney, 29, faced the music from Olympic athletes, entertainment icons and millions of keyboard warriors who voiced their opinion of the naked ad.
Adrienne Uthe, founder of Kronus Communications, exclusively told Fox News Digital that while Sweeney's latest ad may have ruffled feathers, "women having agency also means allowing women to make choices about their image that other women may not personally agree with."
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"People are entitled to dislike the ad, just like women athletes are entitled to criticize it for their own reasons," Uthe said. "But I don't think this is materially damaging to Sydney Sweeney in any way, shape or form.
"In fact, I don't think it's a large departure from who she is and what her brand represents. She's a beautiful woman right now at the peak of her career, and she ultimately can decide which projects she wants to take and which ones she doesn't."
She added, "And she's chosen to make sexuality a part of her brand for better or for worse."
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Sweeney's latest ad featured several shots with strategically placed sports equipment covering her mostly nude body. "Think you know sports? Prove it. Novig is just sports. So, they wanted a show," the "Euphoria" star said in the campaign.
Several female athletes didn’t appear to take too kindly to the ad. Australian Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ariarne Titmus, British sprinter Amy Hunt and former American gymnast Gracie Kramer were among those to denounce the ad.
Uthe believed Novig's creative team accomplished its goal, but stressed the significance of effective marketing.
"Going viral tells me they captured attention. It doesn’t tell me they captured the customer," Uthe said.
"This is where social media completely distorts reality, and we've seen this across all platforms in pop culture, politics, sports and beyond. So the narrative that is the loudest isn't necessarily what is true and what the majority opinion is."
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Uthe noted that one side claimed the ad objectified women in sports, while the other narrative questions why there's outrage over an obviously provocative ad.
"Once one of those frames takes over, whether it's through different content that someone is viewing or someone just inherently has a bias for this topic, that perception is really gonna make it a reality for them," Uthe said. "And that's why I always say, if you can make it trend, you can it true."
Olivia Bennett, Senior Account Director at Go Up, thought that the campaign was simply "bad for women in sport."
"I can understand the commercial calculation behind choosing Sydney Sweeney," Bennett told Fox News Digital. "Novig will know its audience, and Sydney has built a public brand where sex appeal, provocation and controversy consistently generate attention.
"But this was a national campaign. When you choose someone with such a heavily sexualized and frequently controversial public image, you know the campaign is going to travel far beyond your existing customer base. The wider reaction was entirely foreseeable."
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Bennett believed that the bigger issue at hand was what the ad said about women in sports.
"What I find most telling is that female athletes themselves are now pushing back and saying: this isn’t how we want women in sport to be represented," she said.
"Once the people who actually work and compete in that world start using your campaign as an example of the problem, you have a much bigger reputational issue than a few negative comments online."
She added, "For Sydney, I don’t think the campaign is off-brand at all. If anything, it reinforces the image she has already built. But that doesn’t make it good for women in sport. Personal-brand fit doesn’t remove the wider impact of the message you’re putting into the world."
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In what appeared to be a response to the backlash, Sweeney shared a number of ESPN magazine covers featuring nude athletes, including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki.
"It's gamedayyyy," the blonde bombshell wrote before tagging the newly launched sports platform.
While many comments encouraged "The Housemaid" actress, Sweeney was hit with accusations of sexualizing a predominantly male-dominated field.
"As a former athlete and a woman who has personally experienced sexualized comments, I’m genuinely disgusted and deeply disappointed by this campaign," one user wrote. "We’ve spent years fighting to be seen and respected for our talent, strength, and achievements-not reduced to our bodies."
"The campaign was about embracing a fun idea," Sweeney said in a statement, according to Variety. "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."
Sweeney's representatives did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.