When American Eagle tapped Sydney Sweeney for its fall campaign, the brand said it wanted to celebrate “trendsetting denim that leads, never follows.”
Instead, the ads, which promoted Euphoria actress Sweeney’s “good genes,” have become a political flashpoint. Critics on the left claim they “promote eugenics,” while on the right supporters (including President Donald Trump) have praised the U.S. company for subverting so-called “wokeness.”
Others in the middle believe the controversy has been overblown. For its part, American Eagle said the campaign has “always been about the jeans.”
But what do creatives and strategists in the ad industry make of the work?
ADWEEK asked ad industry pros to weigh in on the creative direction, buzz, backlash, and double denim discourse.
Jamie Stark, group creative director, Quality Meats
“I feel like the whole thing is just an attempt to get attention with cheap-ass oversexualization and objectification of women, and it blew up in their faces. But also, people are kind of overreacting to it. And now they are just dragging out old skeletons in Sydney Sweeney’s closet. So kind of an unfortunate hot mess all around.”
Will Lion, chief strategy officer, BBH
“It’s another strong signal to adland that the world likes the blindingly obvious and we should stop trying so hard to overcomplicate it. A hot person in jeans. A Jet2 jingle. Michael Cera pretending to have invented CeraVe. Basic is good. And as for the reaction, it’s outrage farming from the cynical or annoying. We live in a time when fringe opinion is presented as valid for clicks. If it enrages, it engages. Ignore the noise, let’s focus on the signal.”
Emily Gray, founding partner, Untangld:
“Let’s be clear: this is not a eugenics campaign. It’s a lazy pun. ‘Good genes’ is the kind of line that comes up quickly and is immediately dismissed because it’s unoriginal and uninspired. The bigger issue isn’t intent; it’s imagination. In banking on Sydney Sweeney—another blonde, blue-eyed all-American face—American Eagle didn’t break any rules, but they did play into a tired trope. One that feels more early 2000s Jessica Simpson than culturally current.
“What’s striking is not that this sparked backlash, but that it boosted the brand’s bottom line. That tells us more about the state of culture than any press release could. In a moment where Sydney Sweeney and Alix Earle seem to have a monopoly on American advertising, Y2K nostalgia is having a full blown renaissance, and inclusivity is sliding off the agenda, this campaign still resonated with its chosen demographic. It’s not that consumers don’t notice the lack of diversity. Maybe it’s that right now, many just don’t seem to mind. That should worry the industry more than one poorly chosen pun.”