According to People, Sharon Stone said in an exclusive interview at Variety's Power of Women on Sept 23 that her Euphoria costar Sydney Sweeney needs to "take responsibility" for the nearly nude Novig sports-betting ad that has women's athletes in an uproar.
First, what the ad actually is. A betting app. The product is a peer-to-peer prediction exchange. The ad is a movie star in a black strapless top holding an American football and telling you it is "just sports." The body is the hook, the app download is the conversion, the odds are the churn. Fox News put a nude billboard in Times Square on Sept 16. That is not an ad, that is a slot. A customer-acquisition funnel with a pulse.
Now the mechanism. The ad ran Sept 9. The outrage ran Sept 9 to forever. Every sprinter posting a rebuttal clip is doing free media buying for Novig. Every "take responsibility" quote is a fresh headline with the app's name in it. The customer acquisition cost is basically zero. The athletes pay for the impressions in credibility, and the betting app cashes out.
The tasty part is Stone. Twelve months ago, same hotel, same stage, this woman told Sweeney to "use every bit of hotness you have" over a pair of jeans. Now the verdict is "take responsibility." The body did not change in between. The product did. Jeans do not let you lose your house. Her compass is not rotating, it is risk-assessing.
Sweeney's response: reposting nude ESPN covers of other athletes. That is not a defense, that is a content calendar.
YOUR TURN: If a brand can buy the scandal the same way it buys the ad, and the scandal keeps running free, who exactly is the customer?
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