Update, Friday, August 1: Days after the controversy began, American Eagle has released a statement about it on Instagram. The campaign, the company writes, “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Does Sydney Sweeney have “great jeans,” or has the American Eagle brand simply had a very, very bad idea?
The label’s latest advertising campaign has been setting social networks ablaze, and not just because it features the Euphoria actor in a tight tank top. Called “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” it’s based around a play on words that may seem harmless—but has been criticized by onlookers who see a sinister message lurking beneath the pun.
One ad from the autumn campaign shows Sweeney leaning over the engine of her Ford Mustang. She slams the hood and wipes her hands on the back of her jeans—not without a close-up from the cameraman—before settling behind the wheel and disappearing. A second begins with Sweeney speaking about her “jeans” as the camera slowly pans down to her cleavage, before she reprimands it with a smiling “Hey, eyes up here!” The series’ most criticized ad shows the actor reclining on a couch as she squirms while fastening her pants and murmuring, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My genes are blue.” Then a male narrator concludes, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
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A few of the videos have been removed from the brand’s official accounts. But even so, some internet users see a message as clear as a billboard in Times Square (where the campaign was actually posted), believing that the ads seem to glorify a particular racial ideal.
On TikTok, videos racking up hundreds of thousands of views have accused the brand of sending out a eugenicist dog whistle by focusing on a white, blond, blue-eyed woman who talks about “genes.” Other users have slammed the videos for being regressive and degrading to women. Creative that borrows from the male gaze is not always met with unanimous approval—as was the case with singer Sabrina Carpenter’s cover for her forthcoming album, Man’s Best Friend, which also sparked much debate on social networks. Neither Sweeney nor American Eagle has addressed the controversy publicly as of Tuesday morning. Vanity Fair has reached out to representatives for both for comment.