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Sydney Sweeney's latest campaign with American Eagle has ignited a wave of controversy, with critics accusing the brand of embedding eugenic undertones in its messaging. The backlash stems from a viral video ad featuring Sweeney, 27, that plays on the homophones "jeans" and "genes," prompting accusations of promoting white supremacist ideologies.
In the ad, Sweeney appears in a full denim outfit, saying: "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color... My genes are blue." The camera then lingers on her blue eyes. The campaign's tagline, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans"—fueled additional outrage when viewers interpreted it as a nod to hereditary superiority.
Social media backlash was swift and sharp. One TikTok user called the ad "Nazi s--t. Pure Nazi s--t." Others claimed the visual cues, blonde hair, blue eyes, and talk of genetics, amounted to racialized dog whistles. A Reddit user commented, "Saying a blue-eyed, blonde woman has 'great genes' isn't subtle. It's eugenics-era language wrapped in denim."
Salon published a critical piece citing that "great genes" is historically loaded, used to glorify whiteness and Eurocentric standards. The outlet labeled the campaign "tone-deaf," especially "in a time of heightened racial sensitivity and AI-enhanced disinformation."
However, not all responses were negative. Journalist Robby Soave of Reason called the uproar "quite possibly the stupidest, most-likely-to-backfire liberal overreach social media pile-on in the history of the internet." Supporters flooded X/Twitter with rebuttals. "It's a jeans ad, not a manifesto," one post read. Another stated, "Not every blonde with blue eyes is a Nazi. Some of you need a history book, and a nap."
American Eagle has yet to pull the ad. In a July 23 statement, brand president Jennifer Foyle stood by the campaign: "With Sydney Sweeney front and center, she brings the allure, and we add the flawless wardrobe."
The campaign includes a philanthropic partnership with Crisis Text Line, featuring a limited-edition "Sydney Jean" whose proceeds will go to mental health programs at HBCUs, an irony not lost in a debate now polarized along ideological fault lines.
