Does controversy sell? It depends–but when you miss the mark with your audience, as in the case of American Eagle’s latest marketing campaign, it’s more likely to backfire.

In a campaign that has launched a thousand hot takes on the internet, American Eagle featured actress Sydney Sweeney, best known for her roles on Euphoria and The White Lotus and, more recently, for being at the center of several questionable marketing ventures, one of them involving her bath water. She has the star power and relevance to connect with the shoppers American Eagle is targeting, but the new campaign elicited a very different response.

In a series of short video ads, Sweeney wears American Eagle denim while reciting various riffs associating her persona with the product, each ending with a voiceover declaring she has “great jeans,” a double entendre that plays on both her denim and her “great genes.”

The campaign quickly sparked backlash online. Some of the comments on American Eagle Outfitters’ latest TikTok ads read along the lines of: “Levi’s here I come,” “How diverse is your team?” and “So disappointed in this. Won’t be shopping here again.” 

Viewers are accusing the brand of leaning into eugenics-adjacent messaging by highlighting Sweeney’s blond-haired, blue-eyed appearance in a way that seems to conflate whiteness with idealized beauty. “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” Sweeney says in one of the videos.

Others are calling the campaign regressive in its treatment of women. In one clip, Sweeney says, “My body’s composition is determined by my genes.” The camera pans down to her chest, to which she says “Hey, eyes up here.” While the line plays as a joke, it draws attention to the tone of objectification. The moment comes off more like a nod to the male gaze than a subversion of it, which to many observers seemed misaligned for a campaign selling women’s clothing.

Reading Between the Lines

Given the current political warfare over issues of diversity, and the fact that President Trump has used similar race-science language, referring to immigrants as having “bad genes,” and a rally crowd of mostly-white Minnesotans as having “good genes,” it’s difficult to ignore the ad’s echo of racial hierarchies and the association of “good genes” with whiteness. Viewers have pointed out that such a prominent ad doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it reflects and relies on the cultural and political climate it’s venturing into.

In being facile with its language about genetics, the company underestimated its power, and the misguided associations between certain genes and superiority. American history includes a dark chapter in which a cadre of pseudo-scientists argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, as author Dan Okrent chronicles in his book The Guarded Gate, and used that thinking to keep generations of immigrants out of America. The belief in “good” or “bad” genes wasn’t just abstract; it had real, devastating consequences.

The Sydney Sweeney campaign has also been receiving comparisons to Brooke Shields’ controversial Calvin Klein campaign from the 1980s, though the issues differ. Shields’ campaign was criticized for its overtly sexual tone involving a minor, raising concerns about age-appropriateness. In contrast, the issue with the Sydney Sweeney campaign isn’t about age, it centers on supposed ethnic superiority. Yet in both cases, the underlying strategy feels similar: rather than creatively selling the quality, value, or innovative style of the product, both campaigns lean on shock value, cultural obliviousness, and dad-joke wordplay to grab attention.

Rethinking Shock Value in Marketing

In terms of marketing lessons, what does this tell us about the cultural moment we’re in?

Today’s consumers are quick to pick up on subtext in our politicized culture. When brands advertise a particular kind of aesthetic, especially at a moment when conversations around diversity and representation are front, center and under-pressure, it’s worth asking what values are being amplified.

The American Eagle campaign also speaks to the challenge of breaking through the constant noise of modern marketing. With ads everywhere we go, popping up on phones, between our playlists, on public transit, and more, the American Eagle team went for something that would prompt double takes. The campaign “was a company figuring out how to break through in a world where everyone is screaming and saying, ‘Look at me, look at me!’” Allen Adamson, co-founder of brand marketing firm Metaforce, told NPR. 

But the reaction to the campaign shows that audiences aren’t just paying attention, they’re holding brands accountable for what they put out into the world. Controversy for controversy’s sake isn’t just tired, it seems desperate, especially when it echoes malevolent ideologies.

Erin Behrens is an associate editor at From Day One. 

(Images by American Eagle)