Sydney Sweeney’s Instagram Takes a Hit as 200K Followers Leave After Provocative Ad
Sydney Sweeney faced massive backlash over her latest ad campaign. The Euphoria star left very little to the imagination when she posed with sports equipment that only covered her modesty. The brutal criticism even made her lose 200,000 Instagram followers within days.
Throughout the one-minute ad, Sweeney kept her clothes off to advertise Novig, a sports trading platform. Hiding her chest with two footballs, she said, “Think you know sports? Prove it.” She went on to announce, “Novig is just sports.”
Sweeney then sat on a basketball hoop and covered some parts of her body with her hair. “So they wanted to show just sports,” she jokingly added while spinning a basketball on one finger. The White Lotus star then said, “You can trade this sport,” while wearing shoulder pads. She then played tennis, covered a hockey goal, balanced a soccer ball on her feet, and swung a golf club, showing the audience which sports they could trade.
“You can’t trade this. I just look good here,” she said while lying on a billiards table. “No betting on wars or deaths and no politics,” she added before concluding, “Just you, your takes and sports.”
The ad did not sit well with a huge part of the audience. Many accused Sweeney of demeaning and disrespecting sportswomen. “I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. … How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and s———- women’s sport is still a thing?” a four-time Olympic gold medalist said.
The reaction to Sweeney’s ad campaign was also reflected in fluctuations in her Instagram follower count. According to Social Blade, the 29-year-old first gained 50,000 followers. However, by Sunday, she reportedly lost 136,848 followers. Monday witnessed another dip of 68,000 followers. However, the loss of more than 200,000 followers represented less than 1% of her more than 25 million followers.
According to Variety, Sweeney responded to the backlash with a statement defending the campaign. She said, “The campaign was about embracing a fun idea.” She further argued that the concept aimed to humorously bring viewers’ attention to sports. “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,” she added.
Sweeney is reportedly an equity holder at Novig. She also serves as the company’s strategic partner.
Sweeney continued to defend her ad on Instagram. Taking to her IG stories, she shared a series of ESPN Body Issue covers, which featured several athletes posing bare-bodied.
Several Instagram users also criticized Sweeney over the ad. A user penned, “Thank you for undoing everything women try to build in sports,” while another one fumed, “Why is no one understanding how disgusting this is?”
Some users also accused Sweeney of using the provocative ad to seek attention and boost her career. One of them compared her to her Euphoria co-star and wrote, “Zendaya didn’t have to do all of this to stay relevant.”
Some users also criticized Instagram for allowing Sweeney to post the ad. “Why is this not banned on Instagram? They seem to have a problem with everything relevant, but this,” one of them wrote.
