People Slam Sydney Sweeney for ‘Awful’ New Ad Campaign: ‘Yuck’
Sydney Sweeney is the star in a recent ad campaign for American Eagle Outfitters’ fall denim campaign. While the actor is one of the biggest names in Hollywood at this moment, very few people are supportive of the ad. Here’s what’s making people angry, from the way Sweeney speaks, to the alleged racial undertones.
Sydney Sweeney is in a new ad campaign for denim
In a new ad for American Eagle Outfitters, Sweeney lounges in a jeans and a denim jacket. As she buttons her pants, she says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring. Often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
The voiceover then reads, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” The actor spoke about why she wanted to take part in the campaign.
“There is something so effortless about American Eagle – it’s the perfect balance of being put-together but still feeling like yourself,” she said in a statement, per Page Six. “It’s rare to find a brand that grows with you, the way American Eagle has for generations. They have literally been there with me through every version of myself.”
People have been extremely critical of the commercial
The ad has not gone over well with social media users. Many people are slamming the tagline, a play on “good genes,” as tone deaf. Sweeney is a blonde white woman.
‘Racial undertones’ is the understatement of the century,” wrote one Reddit user. “They panned in on her blonde hair, blue eyed WASP face and said she had good genes. They certainly weren’t going to subtlety.”
“It’s a f***ing awful watch,” commented someone else. “‘Sydney Sweeney has good Genes.’ I hated it so much. Stumbled upon it randomly.”
People explained that for the ad to work, they needed to hire more diverse models.
“If there was ever a campaign called to use a roster of diverse models,” wrote another person. “And they didn’t. Wild.”
While some have slammed the ad as “Nazi propaganda,” many people said that even if it wasn’t made with sinister intentions, it comes across that way given the current political climate.
“I think this is a ‘both and’ situation, as in the ad is really stupid and in poor taste given the current climate, and that people are reacting to it more than they might normally because the current climate has us all on high alert,” wrote one person. “Like, I don’t necessarily think some shadowy executive was consciously sitting in a board room giggling and kicking their feet about doing a white supremacy, but unconscious bias is certainly a thing and it speaks to the demographic of the people making decisions here that no one either noticed or cared what this looks like.”
One person summed up their feelings succinctly, simply writing, “Yuck.” People have also taken issue with the way Sweeney reads her lines in the ad.
“Yeah there’s a lot about that Sydney Sweeney ad that is unnerving, but the biggest issue is Why Does She Sound Like That,” wrote one X (formerly Twitter) user.
Another Sydney Sweeney ad campaign ruffled feathers this year
This is not the first time this year that one of Sweeney’s brand partnerships has sparked backlash. Earlier this summer, she teamed up with Dr. Squatch to sell bars of soap made from her bathwater.
Many people criticized Sweeney for the overt sexual nature of the ad, particularly because the product is targeted at men. People accused her of setting back feminism with the soap.
