Young people are upset with American Eagle’s “great jeans” campaign with Sydney Sweeney. The collab has come under fire for an ad where Sweeney says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” like hair and eye color, before joking that her “jeans are blue.” Many young people online are claiming the campaign promotes eugenics and leans into a racist undertone—especially with Sweeney, a White actress with blonde hair and blue eyes, as the face of it. Others have criticized the campaign’s tone, saying it caters to the male gaze and sexualizes Sweeney, despite American Eagle’s young female audience. Some critics also pointed out that it seems to reference a controversial ‘80s Calvin Klein ad that sexualized a then 15-year-old Brooke Shields. While American Eagle hasn’t responded publicly, they have removed several campaign videos from their social media channels, but it’s unclear whether they plan to pull the campaign all together. (Her Campus, Ad Age)
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