Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ‘great’ genes jeans ad widely hated and condemned by the woke mob as a fashion retailer rejects identity politics and plays up to pure wholesome traditional beauty, while risking possibly offending others for not being overtly inclusive. But should it have to be?
American Eagle’s ‘great jeans’ advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has led to accusations of racism, exclusion and even allegations of ‘eugenics’ in what many have decried as ‘fake outrage.’
Sweeney, who rose to fame for her starring roles in HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The White Lotus,’ stars in the clothing retailer’s denim fall campaign, with the tagline, ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.’
The slogan is a clever play on words, for Sweeney’s ‘great genes.’ Nevertheless the blue jeans ad has been deemed to be offensive and discriminatory and subliminally implying everyone who is not white or blonde or blue eyed does not have ‘great genes’.
The underlying suggestion is that the jeans company is guilty of discrimination and has chosen to consciously exclude others (where in the past it would have made an effort to be all things to everyone lest second prize contestant might feel left out and relegated to nothingness). But who knew a clothing manufacturer had to be all things to everyone? Surely an outlet has its core demographic it ought to be able to market to?
In one clip, shared on American Eagle’s Instagram page, which accrued more than 1.1 million views, Sweeney stands before a poster of herself titled, ‘Sydney Sweeney has great genes,’ before the word ‘genes’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘jeans.’
The nod toward her ‘genes’ is also made in another video shared on Facebook, which further incited backlash from some users on platforms like TikTok, X and Threads who accused American Eagle of promoting eugenics, white supremacy and Nazi propaganda.
‘Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,’ Sweeney says, before the camera pans up to her blue eyes. ‘My jeans are blue.’
Sydney Sweeney is redefining denim 🔥
From “Euphoria” to American Eagle’s “Great Jeans” campaign she’s rocking it. pic.twitter.com/jGVZHcd4U2
— Homo erectus (@Erectusvibes) July 24, 2025
American Eagle great jeans ad fake outrage
Perhaps the fashion outlet sensing the U.S consumer has had enough of woke and identity politics and catering to special or minority groups has simply chosen to re configure its marketing campaign to mirror that of the everyday ‘girl next door’?
‘Sweeney’s girl next door charm and main character energy — paired with her ability to not take herself too seriously — is the hallmark of this bold, playful campaign,’ American Eagle wrote on its website last week.
The changing representation could perhaps be inferred as an implicit rejection of previous campaigns where marketers sought to re-arrange traditional role models and symbols of pastime when transgender heroines were used to pitch beer (to great disaster), plus sized Barbie dolls (lest a great portion of the American population ‘feels’ sidelined and ‘offended’ – try the campaign in Europe and see how it goes) along with Hollywood production studios turning to females in super hero capes to market action thrillers, only to flop. Because at the end of the day, primordially women look up to men and have since the Stone Age and not the other way around. Even as much as we would like to imagine that all things can be ‘fair’ and ‘inclusive’ and ‘equal’.
Presumably aware of the fissure its ‘Great Genes’ campaign has caused come this weekend, American Eagle latest social media post starred a different model.
And then there were these comments on the web that caught this author’s eye, see what you think below?
‘More woke stuff. Yes, traits are passed along between generations via genes. It seems that the woke, who question the knowledge of conservatives, selectively deny scientific facts to push their agenda on a great many # of issues.’
‘She makes me want to buy a pair of American Eagle jeans!’
‘I wonder how many of the complainers have blue hair.’
