Overview

• The genes/jeans wordplay ad featuring Sweeney remains live despite criticism that it echoes eugenics rhetoric.
• President Donald Trump praised the campaign as “fantastic” and “the hottest ad” on Truth Social after discovering Sweeney’s Republican registration.
• Sweeney has stayed silent on the controversy and did not respond when heckled over the ad at the Americana premiere in Los Angeles.
• A YouGov survey on August 1 found 52 percent of U.S. adults deemed the wordplay appropriate, including 64 percent of Republicans and fewer than half of Democrats.
• American Eagle’s share price climbed more than 17 percent following Trump’s endorsement and sustained media attention.