Why Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Campaign Sparks Cultural Backlash

The Controversial American Eagle Campaign and Its Broader Implications

Actress Sydney Sweeney has once again found herself at the center of a public controversy, this time due to her involvement in an ad campaign for American Eagle Outfitters. While previous debates surrounding Sweeney have included topics like selling soaps infused with her bathwater or posting images of MAGA-inspired red caps, this latest controversy stems from a marketing effort that has sparked intense online discussion.

The ad in question features Sweeney lounging on a chaise while fastening a pair of American Eagle jeans. In a breathy voiceover, she says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour.” As the camera slowly pans upward and she turns her eyes toward the viewer, Sweeney concludes, “My jeans are blue.”

This seemingly innocuous ad has drawn significant criticism, with many arguing that it serves as a conservative dog whistle, subtly supporting white supremacy and eugenics. The campaign has been interpreted as referencing discredited ideologies rooted in scientific racism, which promote the false belief that racial groups are biologically determined, with some considered genetically superior to others.

A Historical Echo: The Calvin Klein Connection

Fashion advertising has a long history of playing on eugenic themes. Commentators have drawn parallels between the Sweeney ad and the infamous 1980s Calvin Klein campaign featuring Brooke Shields, who rolled around in her Calvins while talking about genetic codes, evolution, and survival of the fittest — language reminiscent of eugenic thinking.

The American Eagle campaign appears to be a direct homage to the Calvin campaign, but the use of rhetoric evocative of eugenics raises questions about whether such references are appropriate in modern marketing. The campaign’s title, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” with “jeans” sometimes swapped out for “genes,” is clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek. However, the ad’s implications go beyond humor.

The Return of ‘Traditional’ Femininity

The campaign has also sparked discussions about the return of “traditional” femininity. With its celebration of Sweeney’s conventionally attractive appearance, American Eagle has reintroduced the “traditional” feminine figure loudly and proudly. This shift symbolizes a changing cultural tide, moving away from body positivity and toward ideals that emphasize physical attributes like an “amazing rack.”

In our current cultural moment, saturated with conservative messaging, Sweeney — a young, thin, white, and sexualized Hollywood star — is not an unexpected figure to hear extolling the quality of her “genes” (or, as the campaign suggests, her “jeans”).

The Revival of Regressive Ideals

The campaign lands squarely within a broader revival of regressive feminine ideals wrapped in aspirational, white-washed beauty. From the rise of tradwife influencers and SkinnyTokers to the ritualized feminine performance of “morning shedders,” the ad reflects a trend that seeks to re-establish traditional gender roles.

Exorcising Self-Love from the Corporate Agenda

As a feminist media scholar, my research explores the intersection of pop culture and the far right, particularly the rise of anti-feminism and right-wing politics. We are no longer in the age of popular feminism, when corporations eagerly appropriated feminist rhetoric to sell their products. Instead, brands are reverting to traditional imagery: thin, white women styled for the male gaze.

This strategy has long worked for them, and it’s one they’re glad is back in vogue. The aesthetic regression encapsulated in the Sweeney American Eagle campaign reveals what many critics suspected all along: the corporate embrace of feminism was never sincere.

The Shift in Marketing Strategies

Campaigns touting “love your body,” “empowerment,” and “confidence” in the late 2010s and early 2020s were designed to court progressive consumers and profit from the popularity of feminism. However, the core business model of these corporations — selling insecurities and reaping profits for shareholders — remained unchanged.

As other scholars argue, self-love marketing encouraged women to not only upgrade their bodies but also their minds. It was no longer culturally acceptable that women look good; they had to also feel good about their bodies. That standard required more work and, of course, products, which brands happily supplied.

Living Through the Cultural Backlash

We are currently living in a period of cultural backlash, a recurring phenomenon that returns every time women begin to make progress toward equality. This backlash is not just a consumer reaction to the Sweeney American Eagle campaign but a broader movement against progressive social movements and politics.

The Sweeney campaign is just one expression of this larger pattern. Images of restrained women line the walls of popular culture during periods of backlash, and this insight feels newly relevant. Just days after American Eagle dropped its campaign, Kim Kardashian’s company SKIMS released their “sculpt face wraps,” a product designed to give users a more “sculpted” jawline, further reflecting the ongoing cultural shift.