A jeans campaign released July 23 by American Eagle has inspired a controversy taking place primarily on social media over what some call its message of white supremacy, combined with sexual suggestiveness.
Released July 23, the ad features actress Sydney Sweeney looking into the camera while whispering: “genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” says Sweeney in the ad, using a play on the word “genes.”
In several other related advertisements, the camera zooms in on Sweeney’s low-cut shirt.
Some responses on social media have criticized the ad. A user under @astrowntr wrote on Instagram on July 31 that “culture sets the stage for policy. And with Trump openly calling for mass deportations, forced family separations, and a Christian nationalist agenda, this ad is part of the same machine. This isn’t fashion. It’s fascism in denim.”
According to a report about the ad on NPR, “the company’s creative choices have prompted some to say the ad campaign promotes eugenics, a discredited scientific theory popular among white supremacists that the human race could be improved by breeding out less desirable traits.”
Some conservative politicians, including President Donald Trump praised the advertisement. On the social media app Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em, Sydney!”
Marc Moran, the director and a professor of advertising at Portland State University, says that American Eagle likely saw the ad as a way to stand out, but says that “there’s a fine line between a little bit edgy and being controversial.”
Moran says that political undertones are not beneficial for brands like American Eagle.
“For any brand that’s trying to be relevant with millennials and Gen Z, now you don’t want to be aligned with any political party,” said Moran. “I think getting politics into fashion is sometimes risky, even if it’s liberal politics, super risky if it’s conservative politics. I don’t think that’s [American Eagle’s] demographic.”
Junior Maqsimus Rylas says that when he watched the advertisement, he immediately picked up on the racist undertones.
“I saw the original advertisement, actually, and I immediately noticed that it is racist. I noticed the play on the words great jeans and genes. I thought that that was kind of crazy, because that would ruin [Sweeney’s] career, and that’s going to be a permanent stain no matter what you do.”
Beyond politics, some viewers saw problems with the ad’s sexual undertones.
Alexis Droege, a senior business student, said she was surprised by the imagery of the ad.
“American Eagle caters to teenage girls and even girls younger than us. [They had] Sydney Sweeney with her [cleavage] out and making all these suggestive gestures and comments. It was just a little out there,” said Droege.
While Moran says that he teaches that “sex absolutely sells,” he says he will be interested in seeing if this ad improves American Eagle’s profits.
Whether it does or not, ads like this aren’t effective in the long run when it comes to advertising, according to Moran.
“The best ads make you remember something and feel something good,” said Moran. “I think that the cheap dopamine rush over sexualized ads, you can get away with it for so long, but ultimately, people will be loyal to brands that make them feel better about themselves and not inadequate.”