What was meant to be a playful marketing campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney has quickly devolved into a firestorm of controversy, with accusations ranging from tone-deaf marketing to racial insensitivity.
Here’s a breakdown of how the American Eagle ad spiralled into one of the most divisive celebrity-brand collaborations of 2025.
Campaign Launch and Initial Reaction
On 23 July 2025, American Eagle unveiled its fall denim campaign starring actress Sydney Sweeney. With the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” the campaign played on a cheeky pun—substituting “genes” with “jeans”—while Sweeney modelled retro-inspired denim in Times Square and Las Vegas billboards.
The campaign also featured a limited-edition design, “The Sydney Jean,” which incorporated a butterfly motif and aimed to raise awareness for domestic violence through donations to the Crisis Text Line.
Just a day later, on 24 July, a video of the campaign posted to the Sydney Sweeney Daily account on X (formerly Twitter) went viral.
Within 24 hours, it had racked up more than 20 million views. At first, many found it humorous and nostalgic, praising its lighthearted approach.
Backlash Emerges
By 25 July, the tone online had shifted. Critics began pointing out what they described as problematic undertones in the campaign.
Social media users on X, TikTok, Threads and Reddit flagged the “great genes” pun—combined with Sweeney’s blue eyes and blonde hair—as a potential nod to eugenics and white supremacist language, even if unintentionally.
This interpretation quickly gained traction, especially among users already critical of Sweeney’s perceived political silence or previous controversies involving her family.
Others found the contrast between the ad’s sexualised visuals and the domestic violence charity messaging jarring and inappropriate.
By the weekend of 27–28 July, leading outlets such as Teen Vogue, Glamour, Entertainment Weekly and The Atlantic were covering the controversy in-depth.
Commentary ranged from cultural critique to media analysis, with several articles unpacking how innocent wordplay had collided with a hyper-aware political climate.
Political Voices and Corporate Impact
On 29 July, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz weighed in on the discourse, jumping to Sweeney’s defence. Calling the backlash “crazy Left” nonsense, Cruz’s intervention further politicised the conversation and drew mockery from both sides of the aisle. His comments, ironically, amplified the campaign’s visibility even more.
Sydney Sweeney//Instagram
Despite the controversy, American Eagle’s stock reportedly surged between 10% and 16% in the aftermath, indicating that the campaign—whether applauded or condemned—generated commercial interest.
A Lesson in Modern Marketing?
What began as a nostalgic, playful nod to early 2000s denim quickly became a case study in how rapidly public sentiment can turn. While American Eagle has not issued an official statement on the backlash, analysts suggest the brand may quietly pivot its future campaigns.
For Sydney Sweeney, the campaign is another moment in a series of public image challenges, many of which have stemmed from perceived political associations or cultural tone-deafness.
Whether the criticism has long-term effects on her brand partnerships remains to be seen.
By Geoffrey mbuthia
