American Eagle defends “Great Jeans” campaign after backlash

American Eagle is standing by its fall denim campaign starring Euphoria and Anyone But You star Sydney Sweeney after a wave of criticism accused the ads of leaning into racially coded language and imagery The campaign hinges on a pun Sweeney talks about inherited traits before a male voiceover says Sydney Sweeney has great jeans In particular ads genes is crossed out and replaced with jeans What AE framed as playful wordplay struck a nerve with critics who argued it echoed historic eugenics rhetoric particularly given the ad s focus on her physical appearance like her blond hair and blue eyes Social media reaction was swift with detractors calling it tone deaf and Nazi coded while supporters especially conservative commentators praised the joke and dismissed the outrage as performative On Friday American Eagle posted a report to Instagram defending the campaign This is about the jeans Her jeans Her story the company wrote adding Great jeans look good on everyone The retailer noted that proceeds from Sweeney s campaign will go to Situation Text Line to help casualties of domestic violence Sweeney herself has stayed silent Still the uproar has boosted visibility for the brand driving spikes in online engagement and even a published uptick in AE s stock price suggesting that in the values war market conflict can be as valuable as the clothes themselves Related Sydney Sweeney knows exactly what she s doing The post American Eagle defends Great Jeans campaign after backlash appeared first on Salon com