Powerade centers female athletes in new promotion amid Sydney Sweeney Novig ad backlash originally appeared on Sports news. Add The Sporting News as Favorite source by clicking here.
Powerade puts the spotlight back on female athletes in its new promo.
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The sports drink giant is hitting back amid Novig’s controversial depiction of sports with a partially naked Sydney Sweeney covering herself in sports gear to promote its betting app. This negative reaction prompted several female athletes to express their disapproval of the ad and explain how it diminishes the impact of female athletes in sports.
To combat the controversy, Powerade transformed Novig’s “Just Sports” campaign into “Never Just Sports.”
“When the conversation about how women are represented in sports began to gain momentum,” Powerade’s senior director of brand marketing said in a statement to Inc., “we felt it was important for Powerade to share our perspective and reinforce what has always been at the heart of our brand: athletes.”
While many people were offended by the ad, Sweeney and Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky spoke last month on a panel sponsored by Front Office Sports and said Sweeney “drove a lot of the visuals and messaging” behind the ads.
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“It was a very exciting process working with her, both on the business and creative side,” Fortinsky said. “It was really Sydney who was behind a lot of the visuals and messaging.”
“We are very supportive of women’s sports. I think it’s an important part of our platform,” Fortinsky added. “I think we never intended to represent women’s sport. Sydney is an actress, the biggest movie star in the world.”
Sweeney did not make a statement, but in response to the backlash from the ad, she showed several covers of ESPN’s “The Body” issue on her Instagram Story, where some of the female athletes were half-naked.
Take a look at the promo below:
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