The American Eagle jeans advertising campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney boosted sales by 18%, sparked a scandal, drew a comment from the White House, generated millions of social media posts, and thousands of articles in media outlets worldwide. From the perspective of audience reach and attention, the campaign can be deemed highly successful. Its creators likely never anticipated such an outcome.
What’s the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle Ad About?
On July 23, American clothing and accessories company American Eagle launched its fall collection advertising campaign, timed for the start of the school year. Before September, students traditionally buy new items. American Eagle’s Chief Marketing Officer, Craig Brommers, referred to this period as the ‘Jeans Super Bowl’.
Actress Sydney Sweeney became the star of the advertising campaign, also participating in the creation of a limited-edition ‘Sydney Jean’ line of jeans. The main slogan of the Sweeney campaign was: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans”.
As part of the campaign, commercials and posters were placed, including a 3D billboard in Times Square, New York, a massive billboard in Las Vegas, on social networks, and through virtual try-ons via Snapchat, among others.
The first teasers for the campaign appeared in New York last week. Photos of Sydney were accompanied by the caption “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes” (meaning “Sydney Sweeney has excellent genes”), without brand mention. Later, the word “genes” was changed to “jeans” on the posters, and the American Eagle brand was added.
Immediately, haters emerged, accusing American Eagle and the actress of “Nazi propaganda” due to the wordplay – genes/jeans. Because of Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes, they brought up eugenics, primarily associated with Nazi Germany and its racial policies, and, of course, demanded the cancellation of both the company and the actress. However, the haters failed to consider that hysterical ‘cancel culture’ campaigns no longer impress many and have become quite tiresome.
Supporting the actress, notably, were TV host Megyn Kelly and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. “She’s advertising jeans, and yet the crazy left thinks she’s promoting white supremacy. Obviously, it’s a reference to her body, not her skin color,” Kelly said.
“Cancel the culture rampage,” Cheung wrote about the ad on X. “This twisted, idiotic, and dull liberal thinking is the main reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They are tired of this nonsense.”
Interestingly, the backlash only contributed to the rise in American Eagle’s stock. According to American media reports, a day after the advertising began, the company’s shares rose by 18%, and its market capitalization increased by $400 million.
