The issue with Sydney Sweeney's jeans campaign stems from a controversial advertising campaign launched by American Eagle titled "Sydney Has Great Jeans." The campaign includes a clever pun between "genes" and "jeans," featuring Sweeney saying things like “Genes are inherited from parents, often influencing traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” Critics argued that the ad implicitly promoted eugenics or Nazi propaganda because Sweeney is a white, blonde, blue-eyed woman, which many saw as endorsing a form of racial or genetic superiority. This controversy ignited a cultural debate and backlash across social media, reaching mainstream media and political figures, including Donald Trump and the White House. While some dismissed the claims as absurd, the campaign became a lightning rod for discussions about race, genetics, and contemporary cultural wars in the U.S. Additionally, the campaign was criticized for its hypersexualized nature and the perceived appeal to traditionalist or conservative values. American Eagle defended the campaign as simply being about jeans and had donated proceeds to a nonprofit. Despite the backlash, the campaign boosted American Eagle's sales and visibility significantly. In sum, the core of the controversy lies in the ad’s pun on "genes" and "jeans," perceived by many as a subtle nod to racial and genetic superiority themes due to Sweeney's appearance, stirring a significant cultural backlash far beyond a typical clothing advertisement. Sweeney herself has not made public statements addressing the controversy.
