Tom Brady's wife Gisele Bündchen's controversial lingerie ad sparked debate after being labeled sexist
Tom Brady’s 2022 offseason has been atypical and headline filling. As the king of the NFL mountains for decades, the crown gets heavy, and the masses look for dents in the armor. Even if it involves his wife Gisele Bündchen.
Of course, it’s not necessarily new that his wife Bündchen caught some flak from the media. An ad campaign from 2011 featured her stripping down to her underwear before letting her husband know that “she crashed his car again.” The commercial received pointed criticism from officials in the Brazilian government at the time.
Specifically, the women’s secretariat criticized the ad as “sexist.” The government officials even went as far as demanding Bündchen’s commercial to be banned.
The officials made a public statement regarding the ad:
"The campaign promotes the misguided stereotype of a woman as a sexual object of her husband. And ignores the major advances we have achieved in deconstructing sexist practices and thinking.”
The statement further read:
"The model, Gisele Bündchen, encourages Brazilian women to use their 'charm' to lessen possible reactions from their partners. The ad contains discriminatory content against women.”
Lingerie company Hope responded that its ad campaign was meant to “joke about daily life” and was not intended to objectify women.
Tom Brady faces doubt again ahead of new NFL season
As a sixth-round pick, Tom Brady has clawed his way to the top. Even during down years with the New England Patriots, Brady kept his team in contention regardless of the supporting cast. In his third season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the star quarterback faces new challenges.
The Buccaneers’ offensive line has endured injuries in training camp and saw departures in free agency as well. Star receiver Chris Godwin is recovering from an ACL tear. Additionally, Tom Brady will be playing without his star tight end and friend Rob Gronkowski, who decided to retire after last season.
The Buccaneers added wide receivers Julio Jones and Russell Gage. However, Brady will not have the reliability and spark of Gronkowski and Antonio Brown. Although the Buccaneers remain the favorites in the NFC and the NFC South, some division rivals may be on the upswing.
The Carolina Panthers hope to get a boost from newly-acquired quarterback Baker Mayfield. He will star alongside D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey.
The New Orleans Saints are leaning into a reload rather than a rebuild by drafting wide receiver Chris Olave. Star receiver Michael Thomas will be back, too. If quarterback Jameis Winston can recover from his knee injury, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers won't have an easy path out of the NFC South.