Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign sparks intense criticism
Sydney Sweeney has sparked backlash for her newest ad campaign with American Eagle.
The retailer recently announced that it was featuring the 27-year-old actor in a new denim campaign. As part of the campaign, American Eagle is launching “The Sydney Jean,” a limited-run on the company’s wide-legged jeans that were produced in collaboration with Sweeney, according to a press release.
The Euphoria actor is featured in multiple photos and videos, including one where she cleans off a poster of herself wearing a denim jacket and jeans and bearing a tagline that appeared to be a pun about denim. While the phrase initially said: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes,” the last word was then crossed out and replaced with “Jeans.” The same tagline appears in nearly every ad for the campaign.
The phrases “good genes” and “great genes” have historically been used in the language of eugenicists, who believe the human race can be improved genetically by selective breeding. The term is often used to celebrate thinness, attractiveness, and whiteness.
On social media, many people noted the apparent subtext of the campaign. They also criticized the ad for a lack of diversity and the use of the phrase “great genes.”
“Maybe I’m too f***ing woke. But getting a blue-eyed, blonde, white woman and focusing your campaign around her having perfect genetics feels weird,” one wrote on X.
“I like Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle as much as the next guy but ‘we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’ is a crazy tagline for selling jeans,” another tweeted.
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“Sydney Sweeney is a great example of white supremacy being the only way a lot of people derive self-esteem,” a third tweeted. “She starred in two shows where she played the less hot friend to a dark-haired and brown skinned woman and tried to steal their man for validation in both shows.”
A fourth commented on American Eagle’s advertisement on Instagram: “This is what happens when you have no people of color in a room. Particularly in a time like this. This ad campaign got so caught up in this ‘clever’ play on words and this stunt, the people in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not White.”
The Independent has contacted representatives for Sweeney and American Eagle for comment.
Meanwhile, a crucial part of the ad campaign has gone unnoticed.
The press release noted that the “butterfly motif on the back pocket of [The Sydney Jean that] represents domestic violence awareness.” As part of American Eagle’s campaign with Sweeney, 100 percent of proceeds from the jeans are being donated to Crisis Text Line, a non-profit that offers confidential mental health support to anyone 24/7.
However, many people on X have expressed that the important meaning of this campaign isn’t clear in any of the Sweeney’s advertisements.
“If you watched those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads, you’d never know they were fundraising for a domestic violence charity,” one tweeted.
“That Sydney [Sweeney] American Eagle ad was supposed to be about raising awareness for domestic violence, and that’s the approach they chose,” another wrote.
There has been immense pressure on this particular American Eagle advertisement and the hope for it to bring money in for the company. Images of Sweeney in American Eagle jeans have been plastered on billboards all over New York City and Las Vegas. Speaking to Ad Week, American Eagle’s Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers said the media buy for this campaign was “significantly more” than previous campaigns. However, he wouldn’t specify the exact cost.
The campaign comes ahead of the back-to-school shopping season, and Brommers said that the marketing for the fall is more intense each year. In addition, the Sweeney campaign comes after American Eagle reported a $68 million adjusted operating loss in the first quarter due to tariffs.
“The pressure is on even more because of the uncertain economic environment that we’re navigating,” Brommers added.
The American Eagle campaign comes months after Sweeney made headlines when she launched a soap product containing her actual bath water. “When your fans start asking for your bathwater, you can either ignore it, or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap,” Sweeney said in a press release announcing her new “Bathwater Bliss” soap.
Only 5,000 bars of the actor’s soap were made, and they all sold out in minutes. However, the soap was later put up on reseller sites like eBay, with people selling it anywhere from $100 to $200 per bar. When it was released by Sweeney’s brand, the soap was only $8 per bar.
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