Jeans More Controversial Than Latex…Thanks, Sydney Sweeney!
Once again, it’s not latex that causes a stir — this time, it’s jeans!
In the new American Eagle fall campaign, “Euphoria” lead/current “IT” girl Sydney Sweeney is outfitted in head-to-toe denim couture, standing beside a billboard that reads “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes.” She crosses out “genes,” replacing it with the word “jeans,” as she makes the same claim in the filmed commercial clip where she is seen lying about with a puppy, leaning into a car’s engine and spinning that car’s wheels later to end the clip.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My genes are blue,” Sweeney says in the video add as the camera pans her buttoning a pair of jeans and shows off her derrière specifically.
Some social media users were instantly triggered by what they claim was a sure “dog whistle” in the American Eagle ad. The criticism here is that there is a supposed subtext over Sydney appearing in the add and the play on “good” genes versus jeans. The blow back from the blogosphere is that American Eagle are evoking and exploiting eugenic-era word usage and imagery with their obvious homophone play and by using a blue-eyed, blonde-haired light-skinned spokeswoman, the living embodiment of superior beauty standards of old.
Beyond what the add might be showing and saying, American Eagle’s new jean collection features two hundred different fits and over fifty new styles. And the company’s President and Executive Creative Director explains that Sweeney has brought a “winning combo of ease, attitude, and a little mischief” to the proceedings. And the financial bottom line seems to bear out the commerciality of her involvement, with American Eagle reported a rise of 21% in their stock since Sweeney’s campaign began. It’s also interesting to note that all proceeds from the new denim line will benefit Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering mental health support to domestic violence survivors.
Controversy, warranted, planned, and exploited or not, sells.
