Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans. ’A marketing catastrophe, a severe crisis in management and widespread social outrage. Who could have predicted US fashion retailer American Eagle’s 5-word jean campaign would go down in advertising infamy? Well, clearly not the face of this campaign, Sydney Sweeney.
Once a wellknown actress, she is now the Gen Z symbol of controversy and cancelled jeans. However, are they both the victims of this hypersensitive generation’s cancel culture, or does the advertisement truly display blatant ignorance and insensitive attitudes to the racist and sexist messaging being presented? Welcome to Hot Topic of the Month, the latest addition to the Opinions Section.
Here, we aim to delve into the biggest and most talked about and viral issues of the month, such as extreme controversy or an artist’s sudden breakthrough to stardom. For this article’s hot topic, I have chosen to explore this seemingly disastrous collaborative jean campaign. It is said that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
However, I think that the public reaction to these ads casts significant doubt on this notion.Let’s delve into the advert that led to these jeans being hated across the world. Earlier this year on July 23rd, American Eagle launched its autumn campaign featuring Sweeney modelling their denim collection, promoted under the tagline ‘Sydney Sweeney has Great Jeans.’ The campaign focused on a wordplay between ‘genes’ and ‘jeans, with Sweeney stating, “Genes are passed down from parents... My jeans are blue.” However, the ad quickly attracted controversy, with critics claiming it promoted white-centric beauty ideals, associating ‘good genes’ were associated with whiteness, blondness, and thinness.
The backlash soon spread on social media, with some calling the ad racist and sexist while others mocked Sweeney’s performance, including a parody by American rapper Doja Cat. This controversy came on the heels of Sweeney’s earlier scandal involving ‘Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss’ soap, which many felt objectified women. As criticisms mounted, Sweeney faced accusations of over-sexualizing herself and reinforcing negative stereotypes.
However, despite the unending criticism, American Eagle refused to issue an apology, released the following statement on August 1st: “‘SydneySweeneyHasGreatJeans’isandalwayswasaboutthejeans.Herjeans.Herstory. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence,theirway. Greatjeanslookgoodoneveryone.” Once again, controversy rose as the company doubled down on their position, refused to even acknowledge the concerns and issues the advert promoted.
Was this the end of this denim disaster débacle? Far from it! President Trump chimed into the discussion as he claimed Sweeney’s ad was “fantastic“ when a reporter informed him of her political leanings. “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” the commander-in-chief observed.
These comments just gave more fuel to the backlash, with people now claiming the advertisement was also promoting right-wing standards on what a woman should be. Despite the reaction seemingly being completely out of context and over the top, I believe there may be some grounds for concern here. The ad blatantly sexualizes Sweeney and the wordplay, whilst clever, does imply agreement with, and promotion of, historic beauty standards.
This is something that women have worked hard to overcome. However, has such a furore over a pair of jeans actually achieved anything or helped anyone? Viral outrage aimed at issues supch as war, sickness or injustice, may have far more useful and important outcomes.
Maybe we all online need to seriously consider why a jean advert done in bad taste has had us in such indignation that word even reached the president, but when true tragedy strikes, it’s brushed off as just another sad event of the world. Imagine the change we could make if we gave up focusing on celebrity drama and superficial mindsets and used the power to make events and matters go viral in the name of spreading love and awareness.