Sydney Sweeney’s Bold & Stunning Ads Rake in Millions Despite Critics’ Labeling Them as Lots of Words Ending With “ism”
Sydney Sweeney is everywhere these days, not just on TV and movies but also in ads. People keep talking about whatever campaign she’s part of. But her new American Eagle jeans commercial has gotten a lot of hate online, with many saying it’s pure racism & nazism, I mean, you know the drill already.
The ad, called “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” shows Sydney trying to button up her jeans while saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… My genes are blue.”
Then a man’s voice finishes with, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” Sounds simple, right? But lots of people didn’t like it at all. Some felt using a blonde, blue-eyed woman talking about “great genes” sounded like a throwback to old, harmful ideas about beauty and race.
Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle, oh my god. pic.twitter.com/tDkeGT9R7G
— Sydney Sweeney Daily (@sweeneydailyx) July 24, 2025
On top of that, American Eagle said the jeans are tied to a good cause, the Crisis Text Line, which helps with mental health and domestic violence. But many argued that the sexy, close-up shots of Sydney’s body in the ad made the serious message feel less important. Some conservative voices even praised the ad as an “anti-woke” statement, which made the controversy even bigger.
Neither Sydney nor American Eagle has talked publicly about the backlash, but one thing is clear, the campaign worked. Just one day after the ad dropped, American Eagle’s stock shot up 17%, adding about $400 million to the company’s value, according to Quartz. So, while some people are upset, the money says the ad was a hit.
A single Syndey Sweeney ad campaign just created $416,449,000 in value for American Eagle in after hours trading. $AEO pic.twitter.com/sERXWz2qPp
— Daniel Foch (@daniel_foch) July 24, 2025
This once again proves that terminally online social media users are pretty much nobody’s target demographic.
Sydney’s brand deals are proving to be huge money-makers. Earlier this year, she helped sell out Dr. Squatch soap that was supposedly made with her bathwater. She also did a flirty ad for HeyDude shoes in a brown swimsuit. Now, with the American Eagle campaign stirring so much talk, it’s clear that Sydney Sweeney’s name alone can get people buying and talking.
This mix of controversy and cash shows that Sydney Sweeney has become one of the most powerful faces in advertising today. People may have opinions about her ads, but they can’t deny she knows how to make a brand buzz—and sell a lot of products.
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