Overview

• The “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ads use a pun on “genes” and “jeans” with highly sexualized visuals aimed at the male gaze
• Critics say the focus on blonde hair and blue eyes evokes eugenic and Nazi-era ideals of white genetic “superiority”
• Neither American Eagle nor Sydney Sweeney have publicly responded to accusations of embedded racism or sexism
• American Eagle’s stock jumped more than 4 percent after the campaign launch and remains above pre-campaign levels
• Rapper Doja Cat mocked the ads in a viral TikTok clip, intensifying the debate over their coded messages