Summarised by Centrist
American Eagle’s latest denim campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney plays on a word swap, replacing “jeans” with “genes”, referring to Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes.
But some critics are not convinced it is just playful. They see echoes of uncomfortable ideas about race and beauty.
Marcus Collins, a marketing professor at the University of Michigan, said, “You can either say this was ignorance, or this was laziness, or say that this is intentional. Any one of the three are not good.”
Cultural anthropologist Shalini Shankar criticised the campaign for “exacerbat[ing] a limited concept of beauty” and said it seemed to “rebrand itself for a particular kind of white privileged American.”
On the other side, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly mocked the backlash on social media, writing, “I love how the leftist meltdown over the Sydney Sweeney ad has only resulted in a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes getting 1000x the exposure for her ‘good genes.’”
American Eagle hopes the buzz helps them stand out especially with Sweeney as a big name attached. They are also launching a limited edition Sydney jean to raise awareness of domestic violence with proceeds going to charity.
Marketing experts say it is a tricky balance. Alan Adamson, co-founder of Metaforce, noted, “If you try to follow all the rules, you will make lots of people happy, but you will fail. The rocket will not take off.”
