American Eagle’s recent ad campaign has critics questioning who exactly the brand is trying to sell jeans to. The new ad campaign, which uses the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” has garnered significant backlash for several different reasons. In response, former fans of the brand took to social media to share that they’ll be spending their money elsewhere.
The ad campaign shows Sydney Sweeney talking about her ‘jeans.’
Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle, oh my god. pic.twitter.com/tDkeGT9R7G
— Sydney Sweeney Daily (@sweeneydailyx) July 24, 2025
The ads feature a play on the word jeans/genes. Critics have accused the ad of promoting eugenics. In one ad, Sydney says, “Genes are passed down from parent to offspring, often determining traits like eye color, personality, and even hair color. My jeans are blue.”
Though this ad isn’t featured on American Eagle’s social media pages, the brand has shared several ads that say “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Across social media platforms, critics slammed the ad campaign. “The American Eagles ad wasn’t just a commercial. It was a love letter to white nationalism and eugenic fantasies, and Sydney Sweeney knew it,” one critic wrote on X.
Reacting to the ads shared by the brand on Instagram, one critic joked that the campaign was “a MAGA x AE collab.” Meanwhile, another critic said the campaign is “giving Germany 1940.”
The fact that Sydney posed alongside a German shepherd in some of the ads made it seem even worse. “Like the German shepherd, blonde hair, and blue eyes? C’mon guys … this is so 1940s!” another person wrote on Instagram.
Critics also questioned who the ad is actually for.
Many people also hate the way Sydney is sexualized in the ads. Some people questioned why the ads seemed to be created to appeal to straight men when the brand is trying to sell women’s jeans. “Looks more like an ad for men than women,” one critic commented. “As a company who sells to women, genuinely, what were you thinking because we do not wanna be like that.”
Another person questioned, “Are we selling jeans to women or selling women in jeans to men?”
People also wondered who approved the campaign. “Yall didn’t put this in front of anyone but a group of older white men huh? 🗑️,” a third person wrote.
Some other details have made the campaign feel even ickier to people.
To make it even worse (somehow), the ad appears to be inspired by a controversial Calvin Klein ad from 1980 featuring Brooke Shields. Brooke was only 15 years old at the time the sexualized ad came out.
Some fans noticed the similarities between the two ads, which made the new AE campaign even more disturbing. “Is this ad a reference to the Brooke Shields commercial? If so, it’s so creepy and low of American Eagle to make a commercial like this,” one person pointed out on the brand’s Instagram page.
Another person called the brand out for this on X, writing that “finding out it’s referencing an ad that sexualised 14-year-old Brooke Shields” made it worse.
Additionally, the campaign is somehow related to domestic violence.
Though you wouldn’t know it from watching any of the ads about Sydney’s “jeans,” the brand is selling “The Sydney Jean” to raise money to support Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that offers free mental health support via text. A press release states: “A butterfly motif on the back pocket of the jean represents domestic violence awareness, which Sydney is passionate about. In support of the cause, 100% of the purchase price from ‘The Sydney Jean’ will be donated to Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering free, 24/7, confidential mental health support to anyone in need — just text 741741.”
Critics say the ad campaign was “grossly miscalculated,” so they won’t be shopping at American Eagle anymore. On X, one person wrote, “If you watched those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads, you’d never know they were fundraising for a domestic violence charity.”
