“This advert has understandably caused a great deal of anger among women athletes and across the wider sporting community. At a time when women’s sport is achieving unprecedented visibility and commercial momentum, the campaign feels like a return to a very old and familiar way of representing women.
“The response to this advert is not about suggesting that women in sport cannot be glamorous, feminine or sexual, nor is it about policing what women wear or how they choose to present themselves. Women athletes should have the freedom to express every part of their identity. The problem is the context: a woman’s sexualised body is being used to sell a sports-related product, while sport itself is treated largely as a costume and a backdrop.
“This matters because media and advertising do not simply reflect how we see women in sport; they actively shape it. Repeatedly presenting women through sexualised imagery reinforces the message that their bodies are more commercially valuable than their sporting competence. It influences what audiences notice, what sponsors believe will sell and, ultimately, which women are considered marketable and worthy of investment.
“Amy Hunt’s response was so powerful because it reclaimed the meaning of a woman’s sporting body. Her words directed attention towards the muscles, work, sacrifice, and extraordinary performance behind elite sport. Women’s sport can be joyful and beautiful, but it is also physically demanding, uncomfortable and relentless. It doesn’t need sexualisation to make it interesting or commercially valuable.
“It is also important that criticism is not directed solely at Sydney Sweeney as an individual woman. This was a commercial campaign involving a sports prediction company and a wider group of creative and corporate decision-makers. Those organisations must take responsibility for the choices they make and ask whether their campaigns advance women’s sport, engage meaningfully with it or simply borrow its growing cultural relevance while reproducing outdated representations.
“The response from Amy and other athletes is therefore significant. Rather than allowing the advert to define what a woman in sport looks like, they have used their own voices and images to show the strength, skill, diversity, and reality of women’s sporting lives. That is the visual story of women’s sport that deserves greater investment and attention.”
For further comments or interview requests with Professor Norman, please email the PR team or call 01509 228686.
