{"id":52450,"date":"2025-08-01T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52450\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:59:14","slug":"dunkin-under-fire-for-genetics-ad-with-the-summer-i-turned-pretty-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/52450\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunkin’ under fire for ‘genetics’ ad with ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ star"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cSummer I Turned Pretty\u201d star Gavin Casalegno\u2019s Dunkin\u2019 ad<\/a> is coming under scrutiny and sparking yet another debate over promoting certain \u201cgenetics.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In the new ad for the chain, Casalegno sits with his legs in a pool before standing up and telling the camera his tan is natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I didn\u2019t ask to be the king of summer. It just happened,\u201d he says. \u201cThis tan? Genetics. I just got my color analysis back. Guess what? Golden summer, literally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gavin Casalegno\u2019s new Dunkin\u2019 ad is coming under scrutiny over its use of the word \u201cgenetics.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the ad, the \u201cSummer I Turned Pretty\u201d star claimed his tan comes from his \u201cgenetics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casalegno, who has his white shirt unbuttoned throughout the commercial to show off his bronze skin, then sits in a lounge chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help it. Every time I drink a Dunkin\u2019 Golden Hour Refresher, it\u2019s like the sun just finds me,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if sipping these refreshers makes me the king of summer? Guilty as charged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics were displeased with the ad, accusing Dunkin\u2019 of promoting white features as superior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are ads so obsessed with genetics all of a sudden,\u201d one user commented.<\/p>\n

Critics accused the ad of promoting white features as superior.<\/p>\n

One TikTok user commented, \u201cIt\u2019s giving white is right, yeah no.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\u201cWtf is wrong with you dunkin? 90% of your stores are owned and operated by Indian and other Brown people. But you make a commercial about white genetics? Explain the correlation between genes and coffee,\u201d another commenter claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201d \u2026 It\u2019s giving white is right, yeah no,\u201d another weighed in.<\/p>\n

Some compared the ad to Sydney Sweeney\u2019s controversial American Eagle jeans campaign<\/a>, in which she also talks about her \u201cgenes\u201d as a play on the word \u201cjeans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre AE and DD using the same agency or something?\u201d one user wondered.<\/p>\n

Sweeney\u2019s\u00a0American Eagle ad campaign has been widely criticized for allegedly promoting \u201cNazi propaganda\u201d by being a \u201cracialized dog whistle\u201d praising blond hair and blue eyes.<\/p>\n

Casalegno\u2019s ad comes after Sydney Sweeney\u2019s\u00a0American Eagle ad campaign sparked intense debate over allegedly promoting \u201cNazi propaganda\u201d by praising blond hair and blue eyes. American Eagle<\/p>\n

One TikTok user accused the ad of echoing \u201cpseudoscientific language of racial superiority.\u201d American Eagle<\/p>\n

\u201cGenes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,\u201d the \u201cEuphoria\u201d star says in the ad.<\/p>\n

One TikTokker argued<\/a>, \u201cWhen those traits are consistently uplifted as genetic excellence, we know where this leads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just echoes pseudoscientific language of racial superiority,\u201d the user continued. \u201cAll throughout history, those traits have been weaponized to uphold a racial hierarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doja Cat later mocked the ad in a TikTok video<\/a>, reciting Sweeney\u2019s now-infamous genes monologue with an exaggerated backwoods Southern accent while sneering.<\/p>\n

\u201cU know its bad when even doja makes fun of it,\u201d one user commented with a crying emoji.<\/p>\n

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