Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle are continuing to come under fire on the heels of their controversial ad.
Last week, the denim retailer debuted a brand new advertisement featuring the Euphoria star front and center. If you haven’t seen it, you can ch-ch-check it out (below):
It didn’t take long for the ad to receive its first wave of criticism. As we previously covered, the Anyone But You star collaborated with the brand to create “The Sydney Jean,” which comes with a “butterfly motif on the back pocket.” It “represents domestic violence awareness, which Sydney is passionate about” and all the proceeds are being donated to the cause… Which is great in theory, but the execution is what people have a problem with. In the ad, Sydney sexualizes herself… Which netizens feel is “tone deaf” for a campaign supporting such serious subject matter.
But the controversy doesn’t end there…
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The ad is now being criticized for promoting eugenics! If you’re not familiar with that term, Merriam-Webster defines it as “the practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the populations’ genetic composition.” You know, Hitler and the Nazis’ goal.
The final tagline of the ad states ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” It’s obviously a play on the word “genes” but when you have a White, blonde-haired, blue-eyed American woman as the face of such a slogan, it sends the message that American Eagle is promoting THOSE specific genes.
On X (Twitter), fans have been sounding off with SCATHING reactions:
“Maybe I’m too f**king woke. But getting a blue eyed, blonde, white women and focusing your campaign around her having perfect genetics feels weird, especially considering the current state of America”
“people not realizing the eugenics ideology behind sydney sweeney’s jeans ad is like very terrifying you guys desperately need to grow a brain”
“I hate the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad, it’s like why are we promoting eugenics with the state of this country rn, NO I don’t want your genes actually. F**k you American Eagle”
“So Sydney (& American Eagle) somehow expect audiences to not interpret this visual as a euphemism for eugenics and white supremacy?”
“I didn’t know what everyone was freaking out about with that Sydney Sweeney ad but then I realized I should watch it with the sound on and OH MY GOD. Yeah that’s some f**ked Aryan eugenics s**t”
“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.”
“Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle promoting eugenics and pushing the aryan race Nazi propaganda was not in my 2025 bingo card”
“Why in the blue hell does American eagle have Sydney Sweeney promoting fucking eugenics”
Elsewhere on social media, another user wrote:
“This is what happens when you have no ppl of color in a room. Particularly in a time like this. This ad campaign got so caught up in this ‘clever’ play on words and this stunt the ppl in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not White. I’d expect this from Abercrombie… but not yall.”
Yeesh.
Others have come out and said people are being too “woke” and “sensitive”… However, when Nazis are literally exposing themselves every day in the year 2025, it’s NOT an overreaction to call something like this out.
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below!
[Images via American Eagle/YouTube]
The post Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Ads Spark MORE Controversy — Internet Accusing The Brand Of Promoting Eugenics! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
