Overview

• An Economist/YouGov poll conducted Aug. 9–11 found that just 12 percent of U.S. adults described the Sydney Sweeney campaign as offensive, while 39 percent called it clever and 40 percent were neutral.
• Men and Republicans were markedly more inclined to view the genes-jeans wordplay as clever, with 49 percent of men and 57 percent of Republicans responding positively, compared with 31 percent of women and 22 percent of Democrats.
• Retail analytics firm Pass_by reported that American Eagle’s in-store foot traffic fell 8.96 percent year-over-year for the week beginning Aug. 3, marking a sharper decline than in prior weeks.
• President Trump and figures such as Vice President J.D. Vance and Senator Ted Cruz publicly defended the ad, transforming a limited social media outcry into a high-profile cultural flashpoint.
• A New York Times analysis concluded that initial backlash originated from a handful of low-reach social media accounts before being amplified by conservative influencers.