Sweeney paired up with clothing brand American Eagle for its fall clothing campaign, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” which sparked a mix of reactions on social media.<\/p>\n
In a promo video posted to the brand’s\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, the 27-year-old walked toward an American Eagle billboard featuring her and the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes.” Sweeney crossed out “Genes” and replaced it with “Jeans” before walking away.<\/p>\n Sweeney faced backlash for a new campaign with American Eagle.<\/p>\n Sydney Sweeney\u2019s Racy Ad Sparks Outrage But Fans Defend Anti-‘woke’ Style<\/a><\/p>\n Liberal media outlets and progressive commentators fretted over what they deemed coded language from American Eagle about White supremacy and eugenics.<\/p>\n Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n On ABC\u2019s “GMA First Look” Tuesday, the show featured a clip of Kean University professor Robin Landa linking Sweeney\u2019s “good jeans” to the eugenics movement.<\/p>\n Liberal outlets like Salon<\/a> piled in on the backlash, with the outlet\u2019s weekend editor CK Smith also linking the tagline of Sweeney\u2019s ad to “eugenics movements.”<\/p>\n “The advertisement, the choice of Sweeney as the sole face in it and the internet\u2019s reaction reflect an unbridled cultural shift toward Whiteness, conservatism and capitalist exploitation. Sweeney is both a symptom and a participant,” MSNBC producer Hanna Holland wrote in an MSNBC.com column on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n In response, conservatives gleefully mocked their concerns.<\/p>\n WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. <\/a>Slaughter <\/a>appeared to be in Sweeney\u2019s corner, posting, “Attention (Sydney Sweeney), YOU GO\u00a0GIRL,” on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Sen.\u00a0Ted Cruz<\/a>, R-Texas, posted, “Wow. Now the crazy Left has come out against beautiful women. I’m sure that will poll well.”<\/p>\n Said OutKick host Clay Travis<\/a> on his show, “We’re repudiating this idea that fat people and woke people advertising works.”<\/p>\n Dunkin Donuts<\/p>\n A Trump White House <\/a>official <\/a>also waded into the controversy, calling left-wing backlash and claims of a “shift toward Whiteness” more “cancel culture run amok.”<\/p>\n Not that it was only liberals who took issue with the ad. The satire site Babylon Bee poked fun at conservatives who reveled in Sweeney’s ad, saying they were cheering “the death of wokeness as America finally returned to its Christian roots of objectifying women’s bodies to sell stuff.”<\/p>\n Wwe Legend In Sydney Sweeney\u2019s Corner Following American Eagle Ad Furor<\/a><\/p>\n In addition to American Eagle, Dunkin\u2019 released a short spot for its new summer Refresher drinks on Tuesday featuring “The Summer I Turned Pretty” star, Gavin Casalegno. During the 35-second ad, the actor\u00a0credited his summer tan to his “genetics.”<\/a><\/p>\n In the ad, Casalegno sat near a swimming pool holding his\u00a0Dunkin’ Golden Hour Refresher <\/a>beverage while he referenced his pop culture status as the “king of summer” along with his tan, saying, “Look, I didn\u2019t ask to be the king of summer. It just kind of happened,” he said. “This tan? Genetics. I just got my color analysis back. Guess what? Golden Summer. Literally.”<\/p>\n TikTok users hammered the spot on the platform, taking issue with Casalegno mentioning his genetics, comparing the advertisement to American Eagle. Posts included users decrying Dunkin’, along with comments speculating the interest in appearance, “What\u2019s up with ads and the word genetics rn,” one commenter shared, receiving 40,000 likes.<\/p>\n Top Culture\/Trending podcast host of The Determined Society, Shawn French shares his belief on what the Sydney Sweeney and Dunkin’ advertisements mean, culturally.<\/p>\n New Dunkin\u2019 Ad Mentioning \u2018Genetics\u2019 Follows Sydney Sweeney Ad In Triggering Social Media<\/a><\/p>\n Top Culture\/Trending podcast host of The Determined Society<\/a>,\u00a0Shawn French, shared his take on what these viral moments mean\u00a0culturally, and what he believes this signals for the future of advertisements, with Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n “This ad didn\u2019t go viral because of its fashion or branding. It became a lightning rod because it hit on deeper cultural anxieties<\/a>,” French told Fox News Digital. “In 2025, we live in a low-trust society where every piece of content is scrutinized for hidden meaning, bias or agenda. The Dunkin\u2019 and American Eagle ad wasn\u2019t just seen as a marketing play, it was interpreted as a statement, and depending on who you ask, it was either performative pandering or strategic trolling.”<\/p>\n “That kind of symbolic over-analysis is now the norm. We\u2019ve trained audiences to decode everything, and brands are feeling the pressure from both the left and the right,” French explained.<\/p>\n French added that the backlash from conservatives, including satire, shows that even “the culture war crowd” is becoming exhausted by what they feel to be inauthentic branding, and that progressives also criticize without any real substance.<\/p>\n “This isn\u2019t about jeans or coffee. It\u2019s about what side of the cultural fence people think you\u2019re on and if you\u2019re trying too hard to sell \u2018belonging\u2019 instead of building it,” French said.<\/p>\n When it comes to the future of advertising, French said that this moment reveals consumers have lost trust in storytelling by corporations, and that brands are being picked apart for “allegiance.”<\/p>\n “That kind of symbolic paranoia is a direct reflection of where we are as a culture: fractured, hyper-interpretive and desperate to know what and who we\u2019re really supporting,” French said.<\/p>\n \u2018The Five\u2019: Will Woke Outrage Over Sydney Sweeney Ad Help Dems With Their \u2018Glaring\u2019 Man Problem?<\/a><\/p>\n While some have dubbed\u00a0the American Eagle and Dunkin\u2019 campaigns “tone-deaf” due to the alleged racial undertones, others have praised the actress for killing “woke” advertising.<\/p>\n Advertisements of the past have a history of marketing based on looks and attractiveness \u2014 including fellow clothing producer Abercrombie & Fitch, which some believe promotes exclusivity.<\/p>\n CEO Mike Jeffries once said about his brand, “We go after the cool kids\u2026 a lot of people don\u2019t belong.”<\/p>\n Other well-known advertisements featuring marketing tactics\u00a0tied directly to appearance <\/a>include makeup company Maybelline Cosmetics’ tagline, “Maybe she\u2019s born with it,” which some argue is a reference to genetic inheritance.<\/p>\n Despite the controversy,\u00a0The Times reports <\/a>that American Eagle has garnered more than $65 million in free advertising since the Sweeney advertisement launched on July 23 \u2014 with over four billion impressions. Comparatively, the clothing brand was operating at a $68 million loss in May of 2025. And $200 million was added to American Eagle\u2019s market capitalization by Monday.<\/p>\n Sydney Sweeney received the backing of WWE legend Sgt. Slaughter.<\/p>\n The War On Hot Women: Why The Woke Mob Hates Sydney Sweeney<\/a><\/p>\n Public Relations and branding expert Eric Schiffer\u00a0told Business Insider<\/a> that, in reference to Sweeney,\u00a0“She’s going to be even bigger because of this.”<\/p>\n At the time of this article, no official numbers had been released for Dunkin\u2019 following the advertisement launch on July 29.<\/p>\n When it comes to the future of business for brands, French noted that brands are judged by perceptions of their audiences by what the meaning of their advertisement is, not just what\u2019s being said.<\/p>\n “Brands need to understand this isn\u2019t business as usual anymore. Every campaign is a Rorschach test, and people are no longer buying just for the product they\u2019re buying (or boycotting) what it represents,” French said.<\/p>\n Representatives for Dunkin’, American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney and\u00a0Gavin Casalegno have not responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Original article source: How ‘genetics’ ads from American Eagle and Dunkin\u2019 triggered a cultural firestorm<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Sydney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3b14639fc7b7b8fc746ae359a8f45929.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Dunkin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/63a2acf7cbfc0c223b7e13cc080231ed.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Sydney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/f05dff15b9105615cea0c3675b8add07.jpeg\"\/)
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