Marina Hyde Told You to Stop. Novig's Instagram Grew 151% Anyway.

On September 15, Guardian columnist Marina Hyde published a defense of Sydney Sweeney that contained the most accurate accidental description of the Novig campaign brief ever written. The phrase was "the predictable, playable nature of her serial detractors," per The Guardian.

What Hyde Got Right (and Missed Completely)

Hyde's argument was simple: the critics who line up to be outraged every time Sweeney does something provocative say far more about themselves than about her. She called them "reflexively judgmental people who ignore so many bigger issues but have really strong views on sexy actresses." She noted the American Eagle "Great Jeans" ad was called evidence of "white supremacy and eugenics." She concluded she would "not be a crazed optimist" but that women's sport is bigger than one celebrity's ad choices.

She is right about all of it. And she missed the entire mechanism.

The 151% Case Study

Novig's Instagram account grew from 37,000 followers to 93,000 in the two weeks after the ad launched on September 9, a 151% increase, per a USA TODAY analysis. The 58-second spot accumulated 60 million Instagram views. Sweeney lost 137,000 followers on September 13 and another 66,000 the next day ... and by September 19 she had gained all of them back plus 80,000 more. Final score: 26 million followers, up on net.

The company eclipsed both Polymarket and Kalshi in US Google search interest during NFL opening weekend. That is the audience Novig built the entire campaign to reach.

'Predictable' Was the Feature, Not the Bug

Hyde framed the "predictable, playable nature" of the outrage cycle as a failure of the critics. That framing has it backwards. When a brand hires Sydney Sweeney, the predictable, playable outrage cycle is what they are paying for. The critics are not disrupting the campaign. They are completing it.

BuzzFeed asked the week the ad dropped, "Why do we keep falling for Sydney Sweeney's controversies?" Hyde's answer is that the critics are predictable fools. The brand answer is that you are supposed to keep falling for it, because Novig needs the attention cycle.

The American Eagle precedent Hyde cites is the proof of concept. That campaign was called eugenics propaganda on social media, and American Eagle just launched a third Sweeney collaboration this fall. No brand hires the same person three times if the first campaign was a brand safety disaster.

She Will 'Atone in Her 30s.' Whoever Hires Her Next Already Knows.

Hyde's parting observation was that Sweeney "will be forced to spend her entire 30s and probably her entire 40s atoning for every single one of them in every single interview." Hyde meant this as a wry note on how the entertainment industry treats women.

From a brand desk it reads differently. Guaranteed future outrage cycles, reliable media coverage, and an audience of critics who return on schedule for every new campaign: that is not a liability to disclose. That is a line in the pitch deck.

The next brand that offers Sweeney equity is not worried about the outrage. They have already read the 151% growth chart. So has she.

Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation with Sydney Sweeney, Marina Hyde, Novig, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, or USA TODAY. Instagram growth figures and notional trading volume are attributed to the USA TODAY analysis cited in sources.

Sources & further reading

• Marina Hyde, The Guardian: "Are you outraged by Sydney Sweeney — again? More fool you" (September 15, 2026)
• USA TODAY via Yahoo Finance: "Sydney Sweeney ad sparked online backlash. Novig's visibility exploded." (September 22, 2026)
• BuzzFeed: "Why Do We Keep Falling For Sydney Sweeney's Controversies?" (September 2026)
• CNN: "Sydney Sweeney under fire from athletes over nude sports-prediction ad" (September 14, 2026)
• Wikimedia Commons: Sydney Sweeney at BFI London Film Festival, October 2025 (Christy Bezuidenhout, CC BY 4.0)