American Eagle’s ‘good jeans’ ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards
July 30, 2025
U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. It has. The question is whether some of the public reactions the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended. Titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” the campaign has sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor. Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits.
