Matt Calkins
Role at the time: Sports columnist, writing for OutKick
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Calkins says the ad used sex appeal to reach a mostly male market and rejects its description as a kick in the face to female athletes.
“It was an ad that used sex appeal to catch the eye of a mostly-male market — not a "kick in the face" to female athletes, as four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus suggested.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Matt Calkins defends Sydney Sweeney's Novig sports adArgument distinguishing sex appeal from an attack on female athletes
Calkins defends the ad as marketing and criticizes its detractors. His claims about the campaign's financial effect are his assessment.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The matter under scrutiny is Novig's sexualized sports campaign. Calkins defends that approach and rejects the claim that it insults female athletes.