Rasmussen Asked America About the Sweeney Uproar. 'Not Serious' Won.
A poll of 1,283 Americans found 60 percent don't view the Sydney Sweeney controversy as serious. A third said 'Not At All Serious.' The outrage was louder than it was wide.
Open Hailing Frequencies ↓
A Rasmussen poll conducted September 21 to 23 asked 1,283 American adults how seriously they take the backlash over Sydney Sweeney's Novig campaign ... and 60 percent said they do not consider it a serious controversy.
The breakdown: 33 percent called it "Not At All Serious." Twenty-five percent said they do take it seriously, including just 10 percent who marked it "Very Serious." Sixteen percent said they were unsure.
For context on what those 60 percent were shrugging at: the Novig ad dropped September 9 and generated more than 14 million views on X and 2.3 million on YouTube within two weeks, according to Daily Voice. Female athletes posted responses. Cable news segments ran. College papers assigned op-eds.
That coverage belongs to the 25 percent. The 60 percent who are unmoved did not generate segments. They scrolled past.
This Is Not the First Time the Math Said "Relax"
When Sweeney starred in an American Eagle campaign in summer 2025 that critics on social media called racially coded, an Economist/YouGov poll of 1,635 U.S. adults found just 12 percent found the ad offensive. Thirty-nine percent called it clever. Forty percent said it was neither clever nor offensive.
The pattern holds: controversy scales through media attention, not through mass public offense. The people most offended tend to be the most engaged online, and most engaged online is not a representative sample.
The Campus Press Is Still Writing the Piece
On the same day the poll results circulated, the Georgetown Voice published a column calling for a "narrative change" on how Sweeney's ad choices are discussed, arguing the controversy reflects harmful patterns in sports advertising. Campus papers have been assigning this story since September 9.
Novig has not commented on the polling data. For its purposes, brand awareness and app downloads are the relevant numbers, and both moved significantly after the ad ran.
Sweeney has not addressed the Rasmussen results. Her equity stake in Novig means her financial interest aligns with the campaign's commercial success regardless of how the cultural debate resolves.
The next number worth watching: what percentage of Americans can name Novig without being prompted.
Sources & further reading
- Rasmussen Reports: Only 25% Take the Sydney Sweeney Controversy Seriously (September 2026)
- Daily Voice: Larchmont CEO's Company Explodes After Sydney Sweeney Strips Down (September 24, 2026)
- The Blaze: Here's how many Americans were actually offended by the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad (August 2025)
- Georgetown Voice: Sydney Sweeney's ad says nothing new — but it's time we change the narrative (September 26, 2026)
