Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle splits the internet: tone deaf or feud?
The American Eagle fall campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney is igniting a controversial play with the word “gene.”
Straight Arrow News
American Eagle Outfitters is working on a controversial ad starring actress Sidney Sweeney.
After several days of discourse about an ad campaign starring the “Euphoria” actress, the clothing retailer spoke out in an Instagram post shared on August 1, doubled it.
“‘Sidney Sweeney has great jeans'” has been about jeans up until now. Her jeans. Her story. We will continue to celebrate the way everyone wears AE jeans with confidence,” the statement read. “Amazing jeans look good on everyone.”
The company’s clarification was intended for critics who called Promotion Blitz a veiled attempt to support eugenics.
What was Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad?
The apparel brand’s statement comes more than a week after the brand launched a new campaign starring Sweeney on July 23rd.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based retailer described the fashion campaign as “a return to essential denim dressing,” while Sweeney, who paired 1970s-style flared jeans and denim jackets, described it as “essential denim dressing.”
In one of the several videos in the campaign, Sweeney, dressed in a denim-on-denim fit, dabbles in several word plays and tells the camera:
“My jeans are blue,” Sweeney said in the video.
The Fall 2025 denim campaign featuring Hollywood’s 27-year-old Rising Star will close with each promotional video, “Sydney Sweeney Have Great Jeans.”
As part of the campaign, American Eagle announced that 100% of the purchase price from “Sydney Jean” will go to the Crisis Textline, which provides secret mental health support to those who are obligated to those in need 24/7 by sending a text message to 741741. This collection supports another cause.
Sydney Sweeney ads split social media and pull support from Trump’s White House
Some shoppers found the advertising characterization of blonde hair blue-eyed women with “great genes” a subtle nod to eugenics, a highly controversial and unreliable belief that the population can improve or advance itself through selective breeding.
All over the internet, parody videos began to pop up, enjoying Sweeney and the campaign content.
Musician Dojane took part in and laughed at the “good gene” monologue that caused the original controversy with a hyperbolic “country” accent.
Sweeney has not spoken about the controversy yet, but several prominent GOP members have ringed for her, including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Vice President JD Vance.
Stephen Chong, White House communications director, a longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, also exacerbated the criticism and called it a “cancelling culture run amok.” He wrote on July 29 that people are “tired” by this idea, saying, “This distorted, moronic, dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024.”
Marcus Collins, a clinical assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, previously told USA Today that scrutiny might be the key when it comes to launching several brands. According to Collins, in 2025, the language takes on an era defined by major brands rolling back diversity and inclusive initiatives.
“This has been quite felt by (corporate) brands these days,” Collins said.
contribution: Nicole Forrelt
This story has been updated to add new information.
