American Eagle tapped Sydney Sweeney for their Fall '25 campaign. The slogan?
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” Yeah, you read that right.
The internet immediately had thoughts. Was it cute wordplay or a low-key problematic message?
“Jeans” sounds a lot like “Genes.” Using with a thin, white star; it hits different.
Critics called it tone-deaf. Reddit called it “eugenics-coded.”
Still, the ad worked. AE’s stock jumped & Sweeney’s custom jeans sold out.
So was it a marketing win or a misstep? GenZ loves comebacks but not like this!
Sweeney surely looks great in denim. But the brand must choose words wisely.