Sydney Sweeney recently played a central role in a new marketing campaign from American Eagle. While many Sweeney fans were amused by the campaign, there was ultimately some backlash regarding her involvement, and now American Eagle has issued a statement regarding the Sydney Sweeney controversy.
It appears that the controversy began with an advertisement where Sydney Sweeney, who has blonde hair and blue eyes, had the following dialogue: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
This led some critics to suggest that the advertisement was making a nod to eugenics or Nazi propaganda, particularly because of Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes and the consistent reference to “great jeans,” aka “great genes.”
While Sweeney, who has also collaborated with Dr. Squatch, has yet to respond to the controversy at the time of this writing, American Eagle has issued a statement on Instagram. It’s a statement that takes a rather light perspective on the situation. Here’s what they shared:
“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the statement begins.
“Her jeans Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” AE continues.
“Great jeans look good on everyone.”
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Of course, not everyone is happy with the statement on Instagram, with some critics believing that it’s not serious enough based on the gravity of the situation. Others feel as though the situation is only being perceived as serious and that it’s simply an ad campaign for jeans with a sense of humor.
Either way, it’s a debacle that has gotten just about everyone involved, including the White House. We’ll have to see where the reception of the Sydney Sweeney collaboration with American Eagle goes next, but this is certainly one way for the label to continue their campaign with the same spirit that started it.