American Eagle doubles down on Sydney Sweeney ‘Great Jeans’ controversy after intense backlash

American Eagle has broken silence on campaign and defended the Euphoria star

American Eagle has finally responded to the backlash regarding its latest campaign with Sydney Sweeney.

Last week, the retailer revealed an advert with the actor, which features her posing in a denim jacket and jeans, alongside the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.”

While the tagline appeared to be a pun about denim — by changing the word “genes” to “jeans” — it sparked immense criticism online on Monday, since the phrases “good genes” and “great genes” have historically been used in the language of eugenicists, who believe the human race can be improved genetically by selective breeding.

Now, American Eagle has spoken out about the campaign and defended the Euphoria star.

“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the retailer wrote in a statement on its Instagram Friday. “Her jeans. Her story.”

American Eagle says Sydney Sweeney ad ‘always was about the jeans’ amid backlash (Getty Images)

“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” the statement continued. “Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Along with criticizing the tag line, many people noted the apparent subtext of the campaign and hit back at it for a lack of diversity.

“Advertising has always been and will always be about subtext and interpretation. If you're going to run a campaign that has a ‘double meaning,’ you better be clear on what those double meanings are. Making a blonde white lady the sole face of your campaign and saying she has ‘good genes’ against the backdrop of literally everything happening in the world is a choice,” one person wrote on LinkedIn.

“Sydney Sweeney is a great example of white supremacy being the only way a lot of people derive self-esteem,” another wrote on X. “She starred in two shows where she played the less hot friend to a dark-haired and brown skinned woman and tried to steal their man for validation in both shows.”

Meanwhile, a crucial part of the ad campaign has gone unnoticed.

As part of the campaign, American Eagle is launching “The Sydney Jean,” a limited-run on the company’s wide-legged jeans that were produced in collaboration with Sweeney, according to a press release.

There’s also a “butterfly motif on the back pocket of [The Sydney Jean that] represents domestic violence awareness,” with 100 percent of proceeds from the jeans being donated to Crisis Text Line, a non-profit that offers confidential mental health support to anyone 24/7.

However, many people on X have expressed that the important meaning of this campaign isn’t clear in any of Sweeney's advertisements.

“If you watched those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads, you’d never know they were fundraising for a domestic violence charity,” one tweeted, while another agreed: “That Sydney [Sweeney] American Eagle ad was supposed to be about raising awareness for domestic violence, and that's the approach they chose.”

Despite the controversy over the campaign, sales at American Eagle were flying. Since the advert was announced, American Eagle’s stock jumped 10 percent, adding about $200 million to the group’s value, according to Vanity Fair.