Sydney Sweeney and the American Eagle Ad: the whole story — from launch to culture fallout and memes to financial mayhem

Sydney Sweeney is no stranger to headlines — but her latest collab in an American Eagle campaign has pushed her into the center of a media firestorm mixing fashion, politics, celebrity culture, and viral outrage.

The actress, best known for her role in Euphoria, stars in the brand’s Fall 2025 denim campaign, which features the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” A play on the word “genes,” the ad sparked controversy for its wording and imagery, which some critics say carries undertones of racism and sexism.

The ad — especially a viral clip where Sweeney lies back, zips her jeans, and whispers, “My genes are blue” — quickly ignited debate across the internet.

And then politics entered the conversation. In early August, TMZ reported that Sweeney is a registered Republican in the state of Florida.

When informed of this during a press stop in Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump responded on-camera with a grin:

“She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad.”
“If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”

The quote went viral almost instantly, fueling further division online between critics who found the campaign problematic and others who defended Sweeney — or celebrated her newfound conservative fanbase.

Celebrities reaction to sweeney’s ad

Celebs turned the ad into a meme battlefield almost instantly. High-reach posts from artists such as Lizzo and Doja Cat mocked the campaign — remixing the spot’s line, exaggerating its breathy delivery, and spinning the “genes/jeans” gag into punchlines that amplified the controversy. The reaction from pop stars helped the debate spill across TikTok and Instagram, where parody and satire drove the viral loop.

Lizzo spoofed the ad as she reposted on Instagram a meme created by @whitepeoplehumor on X (Twitter)

“My jeans are Black.”

– LIZZO

Now to make an even bold statement, she’s already surfing the “good jeans” hype and coming up with new rap songs

Another one who went incredible viral was Doja Cat whom posted a TikTok in an exaggerated Southern accent mocking the ad’s narration:

The online backlash: how a pun became a culture-war issue

The ad’s central pun — “genes” → “jeans” — is combined with closeups of a young, blonde, blue-eyed actress whispering about her genes. Critics argued those choices evoked idealized, exclusionary beauty standards and, in some interpretations, echoes of eugenic language. Headlines and think-pieces pushed that framing, and the ad was rapidly repackaged as an example of tone-deaf creative that didn’t account for historical context. At scale, the online conversation turned into polarized camps: some called the campaign racist or flirtatious with eugenics, while others dismissed critics as overreacting.

Meanwhile on X

The campaign: what American Eagle released (and why)

On July 23, 2025 American Eagle launched its big Fall ’25 push headlined by Sydney Sweeney under the campaign name “Sydney Sweeney Has Great (American Eagle) Jeans.” The rollout included video spots, social, AI-enabled try-on tech, large OOH placements (including 3D billboards) and a limited-edition co-designed jean called The Sydney Jean. The official company release emphasised heritage denim positioning and a playful tone meant to “celebrate what the brand does best.”

Intent vs. creative execution: what AE said it was doing

AE’s PR framed the campaign as a return-to-denim play: classic fits, a big Gen-Z face, novelty activations. But what the brand publicly celebrated as “cheeky” — a wordplay on genes and jeans and some breathy, close-framed cinematography — didn’t land uniformly. Where AE saw a legible, attention-grabbing denim spot, many viewers saw ambiguous symbolism and visual choices that, in the current cultural climate, invited a much darker interpretation.

The GENUINE motive behind one jean design

AE said The Sydney Jean included a butterfly motif meant to reference domestic-violence awareness, and the company pledged that 100% of the purchase price from that limited run would be donated to the Crisis Text Line. The problem — from a communications perspective — is that the charity angle was buried in the press release and product copy rather than leading creative; many viewers never connected it to the ad itself. That disconnect helped fuel accusations that the brand had toyed with sensitive issues without responsible storytelling.

Donald Trump praises sydney sweeney’s ae ad

The controversy took a new turn when, on being told Sweeney is a registered Republican, former President Donald Trump publicly praised the ad and Sweeney — comments that were picked up by tabloids and cable and quickly amplified in conservative channels. Trump’s endorsement reframed the conversation for many observers, turning a creative controversy about taste and context into a partisan rallying call. That political reframing caused the debate to spread beyond fashion pages into political coverage.

The numbers: huge attention, a stock spike — but declining store traffic

This is the awkward, important part: the campaign delivered attention — AE’s web traffic spiked and the company’s stock briefly rallied — but the attention didn’t translate cleanly into retail demand. Multiple analytics firms reported that AE’s site visits jumped sharply after the ad dropped, yet in-store foot traffic declined (Pass_by reported a 3.9% drop the first full week after launch and a 9% year-over-year drop in a later week). Market coverage described a stock uptick that was likely sentiment-driven rather than sales-driven. In short: virality, yes; conversion, questionable.

Why the campaign misfired (and what AE could’ve done differently)

• Mixed messages: the charity angle (butterfly + Crisis Text Line) was in the press release, not front-and-center in the creative. When a campaign flirts with big cultural signifiers, the purpose must be explicit.
• Word choice matters: a pun is a tiny thing until it’s not — “genes” carried baggage that the brand underestimated.
• Contextual blind spots: casting, framing and soundtrack work together to create meaning; AE’s creative choices invited interpretations beyond the intended denim story.
• Expect political spillover: when a campaign features a public figure with a known voter registration (or a political profile), brands should plan for partisan amplification and have comms ready.

notes on AE, Sweeney and the controversy

American Eagle created the kind of splash every CMO dreams of — the whole internet talking about your jeans.

But the lesson here is messy: in 2025 the cheapest currency is attention; the hardest currency is trust. AE got the attention; it didn’t fully secure the trust or the conversion.

Sydney Sweeney’s brand value rose in visibility, and for some audiences the campaign reinforced her star power — but for many others it confirmed the brand’s blind spot when it comes to reading cultural cues. In the end, a denim pun became a referendum on brand judgment in a devolved media ecosystem.