Bold strategy or controversial campaign?
With the NFL season kick starting last week, we’ve been seeing a sudden rise in sports related ads gracing our screens. Enter commission-free sports exchange betting company; Novig. On 9th September, the company launched their first ever national brand campaign featuring American actress Sydney Sweeney and it’s caused quite the stir…Unlike their competitors, the 0:59 second advert takes quite a different approach to sports advertising. So, what’s the controversy?
Rather than focusing on a sports team or match for their advert, Novig opted for a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ approach to their campaign. Sydney Sweeney delivers a playful monologue about the things that make sport exciting. The advert deliberately plays on her image; using humour and provocative visuals to grab viewer’s attention: “You can’t trade this, I just look good here”, she says while topless on top of a snooker table…
Mixed reviews
The advert positions Novig as a sports betting platform that wants to cut through the noise and get back to what matters: just sports. It’s slick, confident and designed to get people talking, which it has. ✅
The video has had over 1.3 million views and 11,000 likes on YouTube, with some people loving it:
- “Probably the best ad I ever seen in my life.”
- “Now I love sports! Long live Novig!”
- “Bro we need the behind the scenes so bad. Also this is such a great advertisement I can’t stop watching it…”
Whilst others have been slightly less impressed:
- “Thank you for supporting the objectification of women for the male gaze.”
- “I’m sorry, have we gone back in time?”
- “Thank you for undoing everything women try to build in sports”
- “Kudos to their marketing team for creating division in the world.”
And this divide in opinion is exactly what the campaign was designed to create; attention. I mean, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? Check out the advert below:
The full package
Interestingly, Sweeney’s involvement with Novig goes beyond simply starring in the ad. She joins the brand as a strategic partner and equity holder. Speaking about the concept, Sweeney said: “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.”
In an interview with Complex, she also spoke about her own connection to sport, saying: “I played sports growing up. I was on a soccer team, I was on a softball team, I was on a snow ski team. I learned how to slalom ski when I was little, and I did MMA. So sports have been a really big part of my life, and I love watching hockey and boxing…”
Alongside the hero advert, a series of shorter cutdowns and campaign stills were created to maximise the content across social media and other marketing channels.
Backlash from the sports world
However, (perhaps not surprisingly) the advert was not well received among female athletes. American gymnast Gracie Kramer was one of the first to publicly challenge Novig’s campaign. She shared a video montage of herself competing at various events with “Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing but this is what a woman in sports looks like.” written across it. Her reel has racked up more than 19.1 million views and 1.2 million likes; significantly more engagement than Novig’s.
Kramer explained her frustration, saying: “We should not have to take our clothes off to convince men that women belong in sports, or that we’re only worth watching if we’re showing enough skin.” Her post went on to prompt other female athletes to join the conversation. For many, the issue isn’t simply about one advert or Sydeny Sweeney. It’s about the long standing imbalance of celebrating women for their sporting achievements.
But perhaps there’s another side to this debate. Novig is a sports prediction platform, not a sports organisation. Sweeney isn’t presenting herself as a professional athlete, she’s an actress who has been brought in to do three things: sell the brand, grab attention and get people talking. And, let’s be honest, she’s done exactly that. Given that she also holds equity in Novig, she’s financially invested in the success of the campaign too. Get that money, sis!
So perhaps the bigger question is whether Novig missed an opportunity to put a female athlete in the spotlight. They could have chosen a professional sportswoman to front the campaign, butm they chose Sweeney.
Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans | American Eagle
This is not the first time Sweeney has received backlash over an advert, and it probably won’t be the last. Her American Eagle campaign last year, ‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’, generated a huge amount of conversation when it first launched.
The campaign played on the double meaning of jeans and genes, with Sweeney appearing in a series of short denim based ads. While some viewers praised the campaign for being clever, funny and attention-grabbing, others criticised its messaging and portrayal of traditional beauty standards.
Is controversy bad for advertising?
Novig is a classic example of “there is no such thing as bad publicity” because the ad has done exactly what it set out to do. It’s got people talking, generated millions of views and put the Novig name in front of a huge audience; all in less than a week! But has it worked in the way they wanted it to? Will their target audience actually use Novig for sports predictions, or do they simply love the advert because of Sydney Sweeney?
Controversial advertising can be incredibly effective when it generates genuine conversation. But there’s a fine line between creating an advert that makes people think and debate, and one that generates so much negativity that people disengage from the brand altogether. In a world where brands are constantly competing for people’s attention, there’s certainly an argument around ‘go big or go home’.
And that’s exactly what Novig have done. Isn’t that what success looks like? But does attention equal success? That’s the interesting part. Whether controversy drives long term user retention remains to be seen but, for now, one thing is clear. Everyone is talking about Novig.
