Friend,

This week's rage bait winner is American, as usual, and there's something in it for financial services leaders here.

The short version:

1. Hollywood actress Sydney Sweeney appeared in a controversial ad for a trading and sports betting platform
2. Sweeney gained 37m Instagram views, but lost followers and sparked fury
3. Australian female athletes, in particular, lost it

Do we have return on investment, or just indignation?

Yes, sex and rage sell, but what?

This campaign did what it was built to do with 9x the social mentions, and 37m Instagram views in four days. Ariarne Titmus, four-time Olympic gold medallist, said she was infuriated: a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to her craft. Swimmer Lani Pallister posted her own training footage with the line "THIS is what sport looks like" (CNN).

​Only four per cent of the social posts were about the product’s app (Yahoo Finance).

Much like the blonde draped over an 80s truck bonnet, the audience looked at Sweeney, not the product.

Sweeney, now appears on the cap table. I am guessing she's getting that equity based on attention, not conversion. In lead gen language, she's ToFu not MoFu or BoFu.

At least she priced it properly

Credit where it’s due: Sweeney isn't hired talent, rather an equity partner who reportedly helped build the creative and the messaging.

This is also her second advertising controversy in a year. Maybe she's decided outrage is an asset best taken in shares rather than fees. That is sh$t-hot negotiating with a company that raised $75m this year at a $500m valuation. Sweeney lost less than one per cent of her 25m followers, and got equity.

Sweeney also can't be fired. Like a badly behaving CEO with a big holding, she may be hard to exit.

What about the product?

No prediction market is licensed in Australia. ACMA had Polymarket blocked in 2025 under the Interactive Gambling Act, and in August ASIC warned these products are akin to gambling, noting about three-quarters of retail clients lost money on the nearest comparable product (ABC).

A final so what?

We're all told to be bolder in marketing and PR, and mostly we should be.

This comes down to choosing what you want to be loved or hated for, then checking whether any of it converts. Otherwise, it's all cost and backlash management with no revenue attached.

Best,

Carden | she/her (here’s why that matters @work)

PS Would you have signed it off? Hit reply. Just between us, I'd like to know.

Sources:

• Sweeney under fire from athletes over nude sports-prediction ad — CNN
• Sweeney loses more than 200,000 Instagram followers — Variety
• Sweeney's ad campaign is a huge win for Novig, despite backlash — Yahoo
• Prediction markets 'akin to gambling', regulator warns — ABC News
• Prediction markets — ASIC Moneysmart

On our radar:

The other big stories this week

Anthropic lands massive data centre deal - but not to train Claude

Anthropic has signed a long-term lease at Queensland’s $30bn Western Downs Digital Park, its first Australian data centre deal, to support Claude’s AI inference capabilities. The project is expected to begin operating next year, subject to approvals.

MA credit fund’s $670m of problem loans run from Gosford to Canberra
MA Financial’s $2.3bn Real Estate Income Fund is facing increased pressure, with more than 30% of its loans, worth $670m, now on a watch list. Six loans have been classified as highest risk, as stalled property developments across NSW and the ACT add to concerns around private credit.

Future Fund probes the Bathla Group crisis, as collapse casts long shadow over land, super
Australia’s $356 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund has sought assurances its investments in Asia-based asset manager PAG are not exposed to the Bathla Group collapse. The fund was advised that none of the money it had allocated from its private debt strategy is linked to the failed property developer.

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