Controversy spreads faster than wildfire on social media. Unless you’ve been off the grid, you’ve likely scrolled past the latest timeline debate, involving Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle and “great jeans.” What started as just an ad campaign quickly devolved into an internet meltdown of think pieces and hot takes, though I’d argue the conversation isn’t over. If you managed to dodge the drama, allow me to enlighten you.
In August, denim brand American Eagle unveiled their newest ad campaign, collaborating with Sydney Sweeney (of Euphoria, Anyone But You, and The White Lotus fame) as an ambassador. A few ads starring her were released, and I’ll describe the two most notable. One ad features Sweeney talking about her “jeans” while the camera slowly zooms in on her chest, before the actress reprimands the cameraman, proclaiming her “eyes are up here.” In the second, and most hotly debated, Sweeney is lying on a couch, fastening her jeans and saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My genes are blue.” Cue tagline: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Quickly, the internet latched onto the ad campaign. There were a few key reasons that this stirred up so much controversy, with many pointing out that the campaign seemed at odds with American Eagle’s previous reputation as a brand that upholds body and racial diversity. Endorsing a white, blonde, conventionally attractive actress as having “great genes” is certainly an intriguing angle for a brand to take, and internet users have been quick to call it out as, whether intended or not, a potential eugenic dog whistle.
A secondary issue is Sweeney herself, who has faced controversy in the past for her ad campaigns and personal politics. Just a few months ago, Sweeney filmed an ad with soap brand Dr. Squatch, marketing her bathwater in a soap. In the wake of the American Eagle ad, social media users discovered that Sweeney is a registered Republican in the state of Florida, prompting multiple Republican politicians (including Donald Trump himself) to come out in droves on social media to support her ad. While many seemed surprised by the reveal of Sweeney’s political leanings, I wasn’t at all. This is, after all, the same actress who threw her mother a “Make 60 Great Again” party back in 2022. What did we expect?
Here’s the thing: do I think the American Eagle ad was an intentional dogwhistle for racial eugenics? Probably not. Still, it’s strange that no one in the marketing room anticipated this reaction from the public. But then again, controversial ad campaigns have existed for decades. Think back to Brooke Shields’ 1980 Calvin Klein spot, where the then-15-year-old delivered the infamous line: “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.” And sure enough, the American Eagle Sweeney ad nods directly to that campaign.
For me, the issue with American Eagle’s campaign isn’t that it was poorly thought out and oversexualized. Rather, I’m bothered by what it represents: the slow cultural backslide into conservatism that’s been unfolding in recent years. Hear me out.
Ad campaigns, and in a broader sense, pop culture as a whole, don’t happen in a vacuum. New media is a direct reflection of the cultural climate producing it. In what feels like more than a bizarre coincidence, American Eagle isn’t the only company to reference genetics in an advertisement this summer. Dunkin’ Donuts had a similar poorly-received ad starring The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Gavin Casalegno, attributing his tan to his genetics. Not only do these two ads have the same weird tagline, they also happen to star two openly conservative young actors.
What does this indicate about society presently? The easiest thing to blame is the election of Donald Trump last November, which ushered in an era of rolled-back DEI initiatives and the prominence of ultra-traditional values. With his return to office, brands have allowed themselves to go “mask-off” when it comes to prioritizing conservatism over inclusivity. Target, for instance, almost immediately rolled back all of its DEI policies in January when Trump took office—not because they were forced to, but because the cultural expectations to promote inclusivity have diminished. As a result, Target has faced boycotts and backlash, but their rollbacks remain, signaling a retreat from progressivism that brands once hailed. Just as telling: eagle-eyed consumers may have also noticed a distinct lack of big-brand promotion of Pride Month, which is a sharp contrast to the “rainbow capitalism” of years prior, where brands were quick to champion and commodify the LGBTQ+ community for the sake of profits. The silence from many brands that once proudly celebrated Pride is striking—and unnerving.
However, I noticed this traditionalist shift before Trump’s return to the White House. The first situation that raised my eyebrows was back in April 2023, when beer brand Bud Light faced massive boycotts following its collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. “Collaboration” is a generous term actually. Mulvaney filmed one small TikTok promoting the beer and that was the extent of her involvement. But the conservative backlash was swift. Thousands of social media videos were made of individuals shooting and throwing away their Bud Light cans, including country singer Kid Rock. And of course, Mulvaney faced the brunt of this backlash, being bombarded with transphobic hatred on her social media platforms. Rather than support Mulvaney, Bud Light folded to the backlash. The company quietly removed the vice president who had approved the ad and released a new commercial filled with horses and rural, small-town America—an unmistakable attempt to placate conservative outrage. In hindsight, this wasn’t just a brand misstep; it was one of the first significant indicators that corporations were willing to abandon inclusivity when it stopped feeling “safe.”
In a small but still telling case study in this societal turn, take a look at how “tradwife” (traditional wife) content on TikTok and Instagram has reached a high in recent years. Influencers like Nara Smith and Ballerina Farms promote traditional gender roles, where they cook, clean, bear and raise children, and grow their own food. Is there anything wrong with couples taking on more traditional gender roles? In a vacuum, no. But the promotion and popularity of these lifestyles are concerning. This trend idealizes a past era that aligns with the conservative ideals and values becoming increasingly prominent in brands, advertising and politics. As society gets more right-wing, these two ultra-wealthy influencers will never deal with the restrictions of their autonomy, but the impressionable young women they’re influencing will.
What does this have to do with Sydney Sweeney’s great genes? Taken together, these examples paint a picture of an America that is rapidly regressing in its open-mindedness and inclusivity. Media and advertising now prioritize conservatism over representation, and American Eagle is just the most recent company to join the lineup. By picking a white, blonde, conventionally attractive actress to herald as the pinnacle of great genetics, they’ve tapped into the same cultural current that allowed Bud Light to throw Dylan Mulvaney under the bus for their ad campaign: a normalization of traditional, bigoted values disguised as normal advertising, subtle enough that any criticism of it seems too “woke.”
It’s essential to critically look at the media surrounding us. It’s easy to dismiss the American Eagle ad as too trivial to merit discussion, but these seemingly insignificant cultural moments showcase how new values are normalized within society. Whether American Eagle intended to display this sort of new-wave conservatism is irrelevant, because the impact did exactly that.
To Sydney Sweeney, I say: history has proven there is much to be lost and little to be gained by aligning yourself, as a rising actress, with the ultra-reactive, new-wave conservative party. Sweeney’s “great jeans” pulled in a stock jump and plenty of attention for American Eagle, but at what cost? Campaigns that hint at exclusion risk branding themselves as out of touch to consumers, who expect retailers to curate a space where everyone feels welcome and like they belong—especially American Eagle, whose brand for years relied on the latter. On the flip side, Gap’s recent jeans ad with diverse girl group KATSEYE marked itself as the most successful campaign the brand has seen—showing that though neoconservatism may spike sales, liberalism will just as well. Why choose a path that makes anyone feel unwelcome in their jeans? Sweeney’s brand now sits at a crossroads, reflecting the larger question of whether cultural icons will reinforce exclusion or push for inclusion.
Sweeney’s “great jeans” ad may look like a simple marketing misstep, but it’s another snapshot of a shifting cultural tide. As the Trump presidency continues and the political landscape slides further right, expect more brands to sell out to conservative culture—whether or not it boosts sales. So if you’re in the market for jeans, skip American Eagle. Head to Gap. Spend your dollars like progress matters … because it does.