American Eagle called Sweeney's jeans 'great genes' — critics heard eugenics

In July 2025, American Eagle Outfitters launched an advertising campaign starring actress Sydney Sweeney with the tagline 'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.' The ad featured Sweeney staring into the camera and whispering: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.'

The backlash was immediate. Critics called the ad tone-deaf and racially insensitive, arguing that the wordplay on 'great genes' combined with a blonde, blue-eyed model evoked eugenics — a discredited theory popular among white supremacists. The controversy landed at a sensitive political moment, with the Trump administration rolling back DEI initiatives and targeting immigrants. Social media users called for a boycott.

Unlike most brands in a crisis, American Eagle did not pull the campaign. CEO Jay Schottenstein, whose mother-in-law grew up in Nazi Germany, said: 'You can't run from fear. We stand behind what we did.' The company removed the video from its own social media channels but kept the broader campaign running. Sales of the featured items soared — the cinched-waist denim jacket sold out in one day, and the Sydney Jean sold out in one week. The company gained nearly 1 million new customers, its stock surged 24%, and a second Sweeney campaign followed in 2026.