On paper, Sydney Sweeney is an ideal spokesperson for American Eagle — what’s more classic than an all-American blonde who looks like she plays volleyball modeling for one of the foremost preppy-young-adult clothing stores? With Abercrombie pivoting to become a brand of which your friend is like “You know who actually makes normal clothes now is Abercrombie” and Euphoria only just kicking off its third season, a girl’s gotta work. Unfortunately, Sweeney’s new denim-centric ad campaign sparked a wave of controversy with people threatening to boycott American Eagle, Sweeney, or both. “Eugenics messaging in mainstream advertising in 2025 is insane,” wrote one user on Sweeney’s Instagram. On August 1, American Eagle issued a statement but did not apologize for the campaign. Below, how a throwback campaign and the current political moment became a match made in hell.
What actually happens in the ad?
The crux of the campaign is Sweeney’s assertion that her jeans are good, but the whole thing rests on a pun: She’s also talking about her genes. “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” she says in one video, “often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle, oh my god. pic.twitter.com/tDkeGT9R7G
— Sydney Sweeney Daily (@sweeneydailyx) July 24, 2025
Other ads feature Sweeney replacing the word genes with jeans out on the street or daring the viewer to “try these jeans.” The idea is basically that Sweeney — a conventionally good-looking person — is the result of strong genetics and possibly also inherited blue jeans.
Beyond the fact that Sweeney probably isn’t wearing her parents’ literal jeans, what’s the issue here?
Viewers are interpreting Sweeney’s ad as promoting a white-supremacist or even Nazi message that the most desirable traits for a brand so iconically American are blue eyes and blonde hair. During a time when DEI is under attack and there are mass deportations occurring daily, an ad campaign centered on how awesome it is to be white and blonde-haired and blue-eyed reads as rather tone-deaf. Users on Instagram are also keying in on Sweeney’s dog, Sully (no relation to Sullenberger), who is a German shepherd.
We can leave Sully out of it.
I agree.
So is this some kind of racist dog whistle?
Probably not — the notion of “good genes” as a compliment given to hot people goes way, way back, and American Eagle is probably not the first denim manufacturer to make note of the fact that “jeans” and “genes” can maybe be used interchangeably. If anything, this ad campaign seems to be directly referencing a Brooke Shields Calvin Klein campaign from the 1980s, all the way down to how Sweeney and Shields put their jeans on lying down. “Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual,” Shields explains in a line that feels almost exactly like the starting point for the Sweeney ad. That doesn’t mean the American Eagle campaign doesn’t come off as tasteless during an otherwise fraught time. But this feels far more like an untimely coincidence or dated reference than a political statement.
Why is Sweeney taking the heat for this? She didn’t write the ad copy.
Sweeney has often been at the center of political controversy after she was photographed at her mom’s birthday party alongside family members and friends in parody MAGA hats and non-parody “Blue Lives Matter” shirts. People were also annoyed that she went to Jeff Bezos’s wedding earlier in the month right before it was announced she would be launching a lingerie line with his help. Pair those with her interest in trucks and country music, and you can see how people have been quick to assume that she has right-wing politics. Though Sweeney has never commented on, say, a presidential election, she has said she’s pro-choice and spoken out in favor of LGBTQ+ representation.
Has American Eagle said anything?
On August 1, more than a week after the Sweeney ad first started generating attention, American Eagle shared a statement doubling down on the fact that it means jeans the pants as opposed to genes like what Sydney Sweeney looks like and if that was passed down through her family. “Her jeans. Her story,” the company wrote, adding, “Great jeans look good on everyone.” A number of comments on the post praise the brand for not capitulating or apologizing.
It seems like she does a lot of sponsorships and corporate deals.
Years ago, she told The Hollywood Reporter that her income as an actress isn’t reliable enough to pay her rent. “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to,” she said at the time. Sweeney previously partnered with Laneige, Bai, Kerastase, and Galaxy phones. She also worked with Dr. Squatch to create a bodywash that is based on the scent of her own bathwater. We all might have moved on from that one too quickly.
Any other offending material here?
Funny you should ask: As a part of her partnership with American Eagle, the company has put out a special cut of jeans called the AE x Sydney Sweeney Ultra Wide-Leg Jean, which features a really ugly butterfly on the back pocket. It’s crazy, because the jeans are otherwise pretty cute. The butterfly should be optional — it takes up so much space and it’s such an awful shade of pink. One look at these jeans and you get the sense they won’t be passed down.
This post has been updated.
Related
