Overview
- Novig published a 'Just Sports' advertising campaign that features Sydney Sweeney nude or semi‑nude with sports equipment covering her body and presents her as a strategic partner and shareholder in the company.
- Professional female athletes from multiple countries publicly condemned the spot as sexist and disrespectful and posted videos and images of themselves training under slogans such as "So sehen Frauen beim Sport wirklich aus" to refocus attention on performance.
- Sweeney has not withdrawn from the campaign and has defended the concept on social media by sharing historical examples of nude athlete features rather than retracting her involvement, while Novig has kept the campaign live.
- The campaign produced large engagement and mixed public reaction, with reported short‑term follower gains for Sweeney followed by about 200,000 unfollows and millions of views on the posts.
- Critics say the episode underscores broader problems in women's sport — unequal pay, lower media coverage and commercial incentives to sexualize bodies — and warn the ad could prompt brands and broadcasters to face reputational risk and renewed pressure to change how they market female athletes.