Good genes, eugenics, American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney. At a glance, this sounds like the strangest game of Mad Libs known to man. But unfortunately, this isn’t a silly wordplay game. This is real life. In July, Sydney Sweeney starred in a denim ad for American Eagle. Sounds simple enough, but things got weird almost immediately. The video’s dialogue was so strange in its messaging that it spurred weeks’ worth of discourse.
In the ad, Sweeney says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” There is also a double entendre for jeans and genes, with text that reads “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.” Now, yes, on first listen, this just sounds like a layered nod to both Sweeney’s praised looks and American Eagle’s denim offerings. A few digital devil’s advocates online argue that the ad is nothing more than a play on words regarding her good looks and good denim.
Good jeans gone bad
But as many have pointed out, ads of this magnitude go through multiple rounds of approval before release and various plausible interpretations are typically considered ad nauseam. The people behind these brands are well-versed in the nuances of public perceptions, so to label this a misunderstanding severely underestimates the true power these brands hold. And for all of this to be happening as America undergoes an influx of right-wing ideology. This has led many to believe that this whole thing is American Eagle’s attempt to earn the loyalty of the right-wing MAGA crowd that’s currently up for grabs.
All that to say, it’s not that surprising that the masses interpreted the ad as an intentional right-wing dog whistle and not an advertising oversight. To have this blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman proudly claim the superiority of her jeans and genes ushered in an air of 19th-century era phrenology, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the invention of the steam engine.
Curious homage
Beyond that, the ad also seems to reference an infamous 1980 Calvin Klein ad starring a then-15-year-old Brooke Shields. This ad garnered its own share of controversy for over-sexualizing a young Brooke Shields. Sweeney has been on the receiving end of similar discourse since her Hollywood arrival was marked by wildly unsolicited commentary on her body and mass over-sexualization. This objectification earned Sweeney an armor of sorts that protected her from critiques about some of her questionable decisions (such as posting up with MAGA family members and selling her bathwater). There was never really a mass callout for her to take accountability because it was easy to see her as an innocent bystander or victim in these situations.
But with this American Eagle ad, Sweeney’s agency is on full display. Now, we can’t ignore her complacency in these acts, especially since it’s recently been reported that she is allegedly a registered Republican.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also shared their support and approval of the ad. And as we know, these types of co-signs don’t come out of nowhere.
