American Eagle’s latest commercial is more than excess of cleverness, it is tone deaf, resulting in a pun-ishment that fits the crime

Sydney Sweeney, the acclaimed star of Euphoria and The White Lotus, is widely considered a competent actress; her acting coach Scott Sedita has even described her as a “serious” one. As Olivia Mossbacher in The White Lotus, she is famously seen poolside reading Nietzsche. But while the college sophomore may have been presented as an intelligent and knowledgeable character, her behavior often revealed a glaring disconnect between her intellectual preoccupations and the practical application of those ideas she tried to understand, and how she treats others from her enlightened standpoint. In American Eagle’s latest commercial, the middle-of-the-road brand features Ms Sweeney, inadvertently casting her as Olivia Mossbacher 2.0. This ad, far from being clever marketing, has ignited a global firestorm online over the brand’s insensitive and tactless messaging.

In the video commercial, shot, framed, lit, and styled in a way a TikToker would, Ms Sweeney was shown doing her thing: uncrossing legs, standing up to push her cleavage right into the camera lens, strutting to allow it to zoom in on her derriere. Sexiness has been used to sell jeans since the ’70s, so there is no provocation there that we have not seen before. However, rather than let her just pose, the creators of the ad gave her text to utter, as an actress must, and that is where the problem lies. She said with unmistakable sultriness: “I’m not here to tell you to buy American Eagle jeans… And I definitely won’t say they’re the most comfortable jeans I’ve ever worn, or that they make your butt look amazing.” Shortly, a voiceover came on: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”. And she quickly rejoined: “See what I did there, right?”

Sexiness has been used to sell jeans since the ’70s, so there is no provocation there that we have not seen before. However, rather than let her just pose, the creators of the ad gave her text to utter

It could have been a wordless or text-free ad, as the recent Beyoncé for Levi’s was, but American Eagle decided to show that they could take flight with wit. And to prove how clueless the audience could be, drew attention to the already unambiguous double entendre. But that was not enough because we were too daft to get it. In a follow-up video, posted to American Eagle’s Instagram page, a model, who looked like Ms Sweeney from the back, approached a billboard with the said ad on it. The text, however, gleefully read, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes”! She appeared to be spreading glue on it to replace the poster with another. The camera cut to the word “genes”. After the installer walked past it, the noun was struck off, but remained legible, and beneath it, another appeared: “jeans”. American Eagle must have thought that was peak ingeniuity.

As of now, neither Sydney Sweeney nor American Eagle has issued an official statement directly addressing the backlash. It is not certain if both are slow to react or unwilling to. That the reaction to the commercial has been fierce and largely negative is unsurprising. Given what is happening in the U.S. now, socially and politically, American exceptionalism is getting a different read on the global stage. As one merchandiser told us, “the ‘We Love America’ fan club is really quite dead now. I do not know any buyer who would pick clothes that scream USA in any way.” It is bad enough that American Eagle, specifically the bald eagle, is the national bird of the U.S.; it is worse that the brand is identified by its nationality. This instantly cues consumers, particularly those outside the land of Uncle Sam, to interpret the brand’s messaging through the lens of what—or who—America represents.

However, what was perhaps more egregious was the cocky “genes” messaging. Intended as a great pun, it became a failed one, and a lightning rod for controversy due to historical roots and social implications. It is not surprising that Netizens are rapidly making the eugenics connection. The phrase “great genes” triggers association with the eugenics movement, a discredited pseudo-science that started in the late 19th century and peaked in 1920s and the early 1930s. Eugenicists advocate for selective breeding to “improve” the human race. Their proposals were deeply intertwined with abhorrent white supremacist ideologies and central to the atrocities committed by the Nazis. When placed against Ms Sweeney’s appearance, largely seen to align with traditional Eurocentric beauty standards, the pun takes on a unmistakably sinister tone.

American Eagle’s “great genes” misfire—amplified by braggadocio-as-advertising, and its obvious nationalistic branding—is a marketing blunder, as well as a stark symptom of a deeper problem. In an increasingly inter-connected and discerning global marketplace, brands implicitly linked to America now carry the ponderous baggage of the nation’s current reputation. From the polarizing nastiness of figures like Candace Owens, whose rhetoric attacks others for no real reason or dismisses systemic issues and alienates large swaths of the population, to the unsettling revelations of the Jeffrey Epstein fiasco, which laid bare the moral rot and perceived impunity among certain elites, the U.S. is exporting an image that is as charming as a root canal. For American Eagle, this campaign is a reminder that in a world no longer entranced by brand America, superficial wit can easily devolve into tone-deafness, and ultimately, a costly blowback.

Screen shots: americaneagle/Instagram