Ad Defense: American Eagle addresses criticism surrounding their Sydney Sweeney ad, asserting the campaign was primarily centered around showcasing the jeans.
In a twist of advertising, American Eagle Outfitters' recent denim ad campaign featuring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney has stirred controversy. The campaign, titled "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans," has been the centre of a debate over race and Western beauty standards.
The teaser video for the campaign features Sweeney saying, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue." Critics argue that the language used in the video, particularly the connection between "genes" and "jeans," evokes racial and eugenic undertones tied to white Western beauty standards.
American Eagle Outfitters has responded by stating that the campaign was always about celebrating how everyone wears their jeans with confidence, emphasizing the product rather than any racial subtext. However, critics have pointed out that the use of "genes" in the video, especially highlighting traits associated with European descent (blonde hair, blue eyes), seems to link the ad to eugenics—a discredited ideology that involved selective breeding to "improve" human populations based on genetics.
The controversy arose from the ad's ambiguous language playing on "genes" (heritable traits) and "jeans" (denim pants), which some viewers interpreted as an implicit nod to genetic superiority themes linked historically to eugenics, rather than a straightforward fashion promotion. American Eagle maintains the ad’s intent was to highlight denim, not genetics or race.
Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, commented that taking risks in advertising can lead to success, even if it generates controversy or negative reactions. He said, "If you try to follow all the rules, you'll make lots of people happy, but you'll fail."
The ad blitz was launched last week, and this is the first time the company has responded to the backlash. American Eagle Outfitters has not yet addressed the controversy related to the video specifically. The controversy surrounding the ad campaign's message continues to generate debate and discussion.
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- Despite the controversial denim ad campaign for American Eagle Outfitters, the debate extends beyond Western beauty standards to encompass criticism of the advertising industry's role in promoting pop-culture and social-media trends, including the use of celebrities like Sydney Sweeney.
- In a conversation about the American Eagle Outfitters' ad, Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, suggested that while taking risks in entertainment and advertising can yield success, misunderstandings can occur, such as the perceived racial undertones in the "genes" and "jeans" connection.
- As the discussion around the American Eagle Outfitters' ad campaign unfolds, some critics have pointed out the potential impact on pop-culture and movies-and-tv by exploring the use of ambiguous language in advertising, which could reinforce harmful beauty standards and societal stereotypes.
