The 2025 American Eagle ad with Sydney Sweeney sparked controversy for sexualization and accusations of promoting eugenics via a "jeans/genes" pun by Sweeney's casting as a white woman discussing "great genes". American Eagle defended the campaign as harmless wordplay. @cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25

#304F25 and @cfuchstv.bsky.social
NBCUniversal News Group. (2023, July 7). Keke Palmer is the latest black mother facing backlash over what she wears. NBCNews.com. www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...

Like I said, these collabs are everywhere. #304F25 @cfuchstv.bsky.social
Nemirovsky, D., & Asgari, K. (2025, January 3). Exciting celebrity brand collaborations in 2025: Brand vision. Brand Vision Insights. www.brandvm.com/post/celebri...

Park, A. (2018, May 31). Serena Williams has the perfect reply to body critics. Teen Vogue. #304F25 @cfuchstv.bsky.social www.teenvogue.com/story/serena...

The issue would be more focused on how they are sexualized if they were black. I believe this because, as a black person, the women in my community have faced scrutiny about their bodies for years. From Serena Williams being too muscular to Lizzo being to big. #304F25 @cfuchstv.bsky.social

To talk more about why I have my opinions and beliefs. I've grown up in a time where celebrities have their own meals at McDonald's (i.e. Travis Scott meal). I see them everywhere. I am not surprised or even mad at Sydney being in the ad and against the eugenics idea. #304F25 @cfuchstv.bsky.social

What's interesting is that I expected more studies than not to say that sex appeal helps increase profit, but a good portion stated it didn't and yet after Sydney Sweeney's commercials American Eagle Stocks went up by at least 25%. @cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25
www.cnn.com/business/ame...

My research provided me with studies showing that by the 1970s, about 15% of marketing communication activities in the U.S. used celebrity endorsers. By the 1990s, that figure had increased to around 25% of advertisements using celebrities.
#304F25@cfuchstv.bsky.social
tesi.luiss.it/25829/1/6974...

I do still empathize people who want to see the beauty of minorities highlighted more. However, calling the intention of the ad to be eugenics is a little far in my opinion. I think that if it had been a black actress like Zendaya, Keke Palmer, or Halle Bailey... @cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25

So, what is my opinion on the comments people were making? Sydney has always been portrayed as an attractive person. I never watched Euphoria, but even outside of that show her looks have been apart of her image. She is seen as a hot woman by most, so her being chosen for the ad makes sense to me.

As for the sexualization aspect it seems like that was less focused on, but still acknowledged by some creators on YouTube about how Sydney Sweeney has submitted to the Male Gaze.
youtu.be/G8ZxdsfG74E?...
@cfuchstv.bsky.social hstv and #304F25

From what I researched it seemed that a majority of people on platform like TikTok, X/Twitter, etc. were left leaning creators and the more right leaning ones were saying that the outrage was another action of "cancel culture" and it's not real eugenics.
x.com/brad_polu
@cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25

youtu.be/YzVYy
Another big reason people did not like her ad was because of this undertone of Sydney Sweeney having "better" genes than everyone else. Not just any kind of genes, but a blonde hair, blue-eyed white woman. People immediately called eugenics. @cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25

youtu.be/P8NHB_4Rlr4?...
Sydney Sweeney was sexualized was by American Eagle purposefully having the camera zoom in on her chest area to play into the bit of Sydney "having great jeans". People felt that this camera angle was unnecessary to promote an ad for jeans.
@cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25

Hey FAVS 304! Because of Sydney Sweeney and the American Eagle advertisement I want to talk about the different ways in which actresses embrace, reject, or subvert the sex symbol label and whether or not women embracing their sex appeal is empowering or degrading.

@cfuchstv.bsky.social #304F25