Overview

• President Trump declared the ad fantastic upon learning that Sweeney has been a registered Florida Republican since June 2024, with Vice President JD Vance and Communications Director Steven Cheung offering similar praise.
• Liberal critics labeled the “great genes” pun as echoing eugenic and white supremacist tropes, spotlighting Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes to argue that the campaign carried racial undertones.
• American Eagle maintained that the slogan was solely about denim, pointing to the campaign’s high-visibility activations and a pledge to send net proceeds from its limited-edition “Sydney Jean” line to the Crisis Text Line.
• Despite social media backlash, the ads have driven commercial momentum, lifting American Eagle’s stock price and drawing widespread brand exposure.
• The episode highlights how a celebrity’s political affiliation can reshape a marketing campaign’s reception, turning a fashion ad into a partisan flashpoint.