Popular actress Sydney Sweeney was recently featured in an American Eagle (a well-known American clothing line) advertisement promoting women’s jeans. The ad sparked controversy online due to its play on the word “genes” and “jeans.” Many people have criticized the campaign, accusing it of highlighting white supremacy.
When I first came across this ad on my TikTok For You page, I noticed that it was receiving an immense amount of hate. Curious, I decided to look it up myself, only to find out they weren’t exaggerating. I have several critiques I’d like to make regarding this ad and Sydney Sweeney’s role in it.
I noticed that this ad was completely catered toward men, even though the jeans were made for women. Sweeney is being overly sexualized, which made me question who the target audience really was, considering most men don’t buy themselves women’s jeans. She also made an especially off-putting comment, “My eyes are up here,” while the camera zoomed down to her chest area. I thought, isn’t this ad supposed to be about your jeans? No, not genes —JEANS.
This part of the ad received the most backlash. The comments and references felt unnecessary and offensive to people of other races. It came across as rubbing white supremacy in people’s faces, somewhat pushing the idea that being white is superior because of having “better GENES”. I, along with many others of different racial backgrounds, found it really unsettling — Sweeney didn’t need to play around with the word like that.
As Athena Casco (11) mentions, “Sydney Sweeney’s ad was basically a dialogue of herself and everything. And I think that’s when it became more controversial, especially about what she said, like genes, and that her genes are better than anyone else’s.” Nothing about this ad made sense to me, and I’m confused on why the campaign thought it would be a good idea.
As a woman, who the ad was supposed to be directed toward, I found it to be super boring and slow paced. I don’t want to watch Sweeney talk seductively while a camera zooms up and down her body. Why would that make me want to buy the jeans? The production was very questionable to say the least. It was so awkward to watch, and not to mention the dead silence in the background.
Sweeney keeps featuring in these weird ads intended to capture male gaze. Either she’s making an insane amount of money off them, or she’s not much different from the character, Cassie, She played in “Euphoria.” Lately, that’s exactly who she’s been reminding me of due to her putting herself in these situations. Both of them seem to really care about male attention, rather than respecting themselves. In Sweeney’s own words: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.” I think that Sydney Sweeney is a beautiful girl, which is why she should stop trying to prove it to men. However, not all jean ads are bad. The American multinational clothing retailer Gap recently came out with an ad campaign titled “Better in Denim” featuring the popular girl band KATSEYE. In the ad, the girls are seen dancing to the singer Kelis’ song “Milkshake.” This ad has become an absolute hit with over 23 million plays on TikTok to date. The dance’s choreography is literally addictive, making it so trendy.
The variety of culture really stood out to me as powerful and beautiful. All the girls are so unique and diverse, with excellent dancing skills.
This ad was released not long after the infamous American Eagle ad, making it feel like a subtle response proving that all “genes” are equally gorgeous. KATSEYE didn’t hold back in showing us how it’s done. Now this is how you sell out. I mean, the dancing, the entertainment value, and the diversity were all so great to see in an ad. I always thought Gap was boring — but I guess I was wrong. I felt genuinely entertained after watching it. I’m not someone who wears jeans often — or even at all — but I would definitely buy these. This ad really hit the nail on the head when it came to reaching its target audience. Maybe jeans are cool after all.