Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad controversy: 5 things to know

2. Sweeney’s American Eagle ad receives criticism from the Left, praise from the Right 

Last month, the clothing company American Eagle Outfitters began releasing a series of new ads featuring Sweeney. One ad shows Sweeney lying down and suggestively buttoning her jeans as she remarks, “Genes are passed down from parent to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.”

“My jeans are blue,” she declares before the ad concludes with a narrator saying, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”

The ad is based on the fact that the word “jeans” describes a common article of clothing, while the term “genes” refers to hereditary traits passed down from parent to child. Critics of the ad have suggested that Sweeney’s status as a blonde, blue-eyed woman and her use of the term “genes” have sinister implications. 

An MSNBC op-ed titled “Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad shows an unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness” outlined some of the most common refrains used when criticizing the ad, specifically that it promotes “white supremacy” and “Nazi propaganda” by painting blue eyes and blonde hair as the ideal genetic makeup.

People who have both blonde hair and blue eyes are a global minority, however.

In a July 29 X post reacting to the op-ed, White House Spokesman Steven Cheung described the outrage over Sweeney's ad as “cancel culture run amok.” He added, “This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024.”

Vice President J.D. Vance was among several conservatives who weighed in on the matter. In an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast earlier this month, Vance addressed the backlash against Sydney Sweeney. “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a nazi,” he joked. 

Vance’s quip reflects the most common reaction to Sweeney’s ad on the political Right. He further described it as a “normal, all-American beautiful girl doing like a normal jeans ad.”

Democrats, he added, “have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing” that it shows they’re struggling politically. 

In response to the backlash, American Eagle released a statement defending the ad campaign: “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”