American Eagle’s “Good Jeans” Ads with Sydney Sweeney Spark Debate Over Race and Beauty Standards 👖🧬

American Eagle probably expected their new campaign with Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney to grab attention. What they may not have expected? The firestorm that followed.

The brand’s latest fall denim campaign, cheekily titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”, rolled out with a wink-wink nudge-nudge sense of humour. But it didn’t take long for the internet to read between the seams — especially when the pun turned from jeans to genes.

Yep. As in DNA. Heredity. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and the baggage of Western beauty ideals.

Some campaign clips used the word “genes” instead of “jeans,” which rubbed people the wrong way — especially when the star of the campaign happens to embody the stereotypical standards of beauty that have historically excluded women of colour.

Critics pointed out that the ads, intentional or not, tiptoe dangerously close to language tied to eugenics — a now-debunked (and extremely problematic) theory that promoted selective breeding to create a so-called “superior” human race.

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As one marketing expert, Marcus Collins of the University of Michigan, put it: “This could’ve been avoided if the ‘genes’ pun had included a more diverse cast.” You know — actually showcasing that beauty and good denim come in all shades and sizes.

To be fair, American Eagle’s campaigns have historically leaned on cheeky wordplay. But in today’s climate — where brands are constantly navigating conversations around inclusivity, representation, and what’s actually “woke” — this one may have missed the mark by a couple sizes.

The campaign’s defenders argue it’s all harmless fun. The critics say it’s another reminder of how coded language, even when unintentional, still reflects the culture it came from.

One thing’s for sure: if the goal was to get people talking, they nailed it.