Australian Teal MP Zali Steggall has sharply criticized a gambling advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, calling it "offensive" and accusing it of "putting her body cheaply on the line" and "luring men" into gambling.
Steggall, a former Olympic skier, stated that the advertisement, which shows Sweeney in revealing attire while promoting sports betting, sends a detrimental message to young women and men. The ad depicts Sweeney parodying various sports while scantily clad, including scenes where she is topless on a basketball hoop and a pool table.
"As a young athlete, I was often in situations that made me uncomfortable, pressured to do sexualised campaigns and show my body in ways that really made me quite uncomfortable and really cheapened me as an athlete," Steggall said. "Female athletes have fought for decades to be recognised for what we are: serious, competitive athletes, strong and powerful."
She argued that the campaign exploits a woman's body to market gambling and diminishes the achievements of female athletes, reducing "women's sport to a sexualised punchline." Steggall added that this aligns with the gambling industry's aggressive targeting of young men.
Steggall questioned the campaign's intended audience and the reinforcement of its messages to young girls. "As an Olympian, I have an athlete's body. I am strong, I am powerful, I love what my body is capable of," she stated, contrasting it with the ad's portrayal.
She also directly addressed young men, warning them not to be deceived by the ad's use of sex appeal to drive gambling engagement. "Women's bodies and women's sport deserve so much better," Steggall asserted.
Steggall's remarks join a growing wave of criticism from athletes and sporting bodies, including Australian Olympians, who contend that the advertisement undermines efforts to have women's sports evaluated based on athletic achievement rather than appearance. Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus described the ad as "an absolute joke," and the Australian Institute of Sport posted a video of female athletes with the caption, "THIS is sport."
Steggall represented Australia in skiing at four consecutive Winter Olympics from 1992 to 2002, earning a bronze medal in the slalom at the 1998 Nagano Games. She was the first Australian woman and the first Australian competitor to win an individual medal at the Winter Olympics.