If you’ve caught the new Sydney Sweeney “Great Jeans” American Eagle ad, chances are you’ve also caught wind that there’s been some controversy over it. The campaign was clearly meant to be a cheeky play on the word jeans, which is a homophone of the word genes, but has spiraled into an online discussion about beauty standards, white supremacy, and more.
So, what’s the deal? Do the ad’s critics have a point? Or is this all a little overblown, as things tend to get on the internet? Join us for a deep dive into the controversy on the latest edition of TL;DR.
Give me the TL;DR.
On July 23, American Eagle launched its new fall campaign with Sweeney as the face, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” In addition to the images, which were styled by Sweeney’s regular stylist Molly Dickson, the campaign feature an ad in which Sweeney defines the scientific word “genes” while pulling on her American Eagle jeans.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” Sweeney says in the clip. “Often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My genes are blue.” Then, a voice-over says the campaign’s tagline, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Pretty soon after it was posted online, several social media users on X, TikTok, and elsewhere criticized the ad for seemingly endorsing fat-phobic beauty standards and white supremacy. “If you’re insisting the Sydney Sweeney ad isn’t a dog whistle you’re either disingenuous or stupid,” wrote one person on X.
Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?
In the press release sent by American Eagle, the campaign is described as a fun way to celebrate making people feel and look great in their AE denim. “A truly iconic moment, Sydney brings her signature blend of cultural influence and individuality to the brand for a campaign that is highly editorialized, fresh, creative and a little bit cheeky,” the release states.
It also seems to be inspired by an ad Brooke Shields once made for Calvin Klein. In that commercial, Shields, who was 15 years old at the time, describes the “genetic code,” while also struggling to put on a pair of jeans over her silky pajama bottoms. The Calvin Klein ads have been heavily criticized for the way the underaged Shields was sexualized, something she addressed to Vogue in 2021. “I think the assumption was that I was much more savvy than I ever really was. I was a virgin, and I was a virgin forever after that,” she said.
