American Eagle Responds to Backlash Over Sydney Sweeney Jeans Ad
American clothing brand American Eagle has responded to criticism over its new ad campaign featuring Hollywood actor Sydney Sweeney.
The campaign, called “Great Jeans,” started last week. It quickly faced strong backlash on social media. Many people said the ad had racial undertones and seemed to promote eugenics — a controversial idea related to controlling genetics and human traits.
The issue began when the company used the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” Some viewers felt the word “jeans” was being confused with “genes”, which relate to inherited traits like eye or hair color. This confusion increased when Sydney, a blonde actress with blue eyes, said in a video:
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… My genes are blue.”
This led to people accusing the brand of promoting white supremacy.
On Friday, American Eagle posted a response on Instagram. The company said:
“’Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”
The brand also added,
“Great jeans
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