The battle of the 'just': Powerade and Novig go head to head in Times Square
Powerade's new campaign “never just sports” is a clear swipe at Novig's viral ads that feature a practically nude Sydney Sweeney.
Powerade's new campaign, “never just sports”, appears to be a clear swipe at Novig's viral ads featuring a practically nude Sydney Sweeney.
Quietly launched three days before the Euphoria star shared her raunchy commercial for the sports prediction app on her Instagram, the Coca-Cola brand sports drink appeared to draw inspiration from women in elite sports.
Ogilvy, which created the ad with WPP Open X, shared the Powerade ad on its Instagram, opposite Novig's billboard featuring Sweeney covering her chest with footballs in New York's Times Square.
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Putting the power in Powerade
The Powerade ad featured women in high-performance sports such as swimming, tennis, sprinting, weight-lifting, and the high jump.
The caption read: “There is no ‘just’ in sports.”
"POWERADE’s legacy of supporting female athletes makes one thing clear: women’s sports have never been 'just' sports. Athletes already have the receipts, and the new creative from @WPP Open X, led by Ogilvy and supported by @wpp_production_, gives them a platform to amplify their stories.
“From digital screens to the bright lights of Times Square, it’s time to #PowerYourLegacy. @powerade_us.”
READ MORE: Sydney Sweeney and Novig score again in second raunchy ad instalment
READ MORE: Give me a break: Sydney Sweeney isn’t taking women backwards, she’s cashing in
Sweeney and Novig's ad launched on Monday to the delight of her following.
In the ad, she strolls into a studio set half-naked and tells the camera: "There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what colour underwear I’m wearing. I mean, I’m flattered. There’s insider trading on dictators dying, and armies of bots manipulating it all. There’s someone sitting in a bathroom stall betting their 401k on a war.
"And then, there are people who just trade on sports. Novig is just sports,” Sydney says in the final frame while holding two footballs covering her breasts.
Jacob Fortinsky, CEO and co-founder of Novig, told AdAge that he thinks the company has nothing to apologise for.
"We have enormous respect for female athletes and the continued growth of women’s sports. We’re focused exclusively on sports. Sydney’s not a female athlete and was not claiming to be one."
“We were very happy with how the first campaign did, and this was always the plan—to have these two tentpole moments of the campaign; two big creative pushes. We’re continuing to push, and I think we’ve executed well.”
And the results? The publication reported that Novig's trading volume had tripled since the campaign launch on September 9th and was close to three times its volume goal by October 10th. First-time depositors rose by 361.8%, and app downloads jumped by 260.9%.
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