Sydney Sweeney Faces Woke Backlash for Her New American Eagle Ad as She Is Accused of 'Nazi Propaganda' and Promoting 'White Supremacy'

International Business Times

7 days ago

Left-leaning TikTok users are up in arms after a new American Eagle jeans ad starring actress Sydney Sweeney featured a wordplay that some are accusing of being outright Nazi propaganda. The ad features 27-year-old Sweeney wearing American Eagle jeans and a denim jacket, while making a pun about her "jeans" and "genes."
"Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color," she intones in a spot. "My jeans are blue," she continues as she flashes her blue eyes. The video went viral after being shared by a fan account — but later switched to private mode on Sunday following the backlash.
Sweeney In the Line of Fire
Sydney Sweeney seen in teh American eagle ad X
An extended version of the ad also uses the same punny tagline. "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. Why would I need to do that?" she says in the 30-second spot.
"But if you said that you want to buy the jeans, I'm not gonna stop you. But so we're clear, this is not me telling you to buy American Eagle jeans," she says as the text "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans" appears on the screen and a male voiceover reads the words.
YouTube
The pun on the words "jeans" and "genes" sparked outrage among progressive circles, with many on the left viewing it as a reference to eugenics—some even labeling it as a full-on "Nazi propaganda."
"I thought it was gonna be, like, kinda bad, but wow. That's gonna be in history books!" one TikTok user posted.
"I will be the friend that's too woke, but those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads are weird. Like, fascist weird. Like Nazi propaganda weird," another user wrote.
Sydney Sweeney has faced massive backlash for her new American eagle ad X
"Like, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white woman is talking about her good genes. That is Nazi Propaganda," she added.
Wrong Message
Another TikTokker made a video bemoaning the ad, saying, "If you haven't seen or comprehended how bad it is, I need you to open your f–king eyeballs and listen. This is Nazi s–t. Pure Nazi s–t," she brayed.
Sydney Sweeney in teh enw American Eagle ad YouTube
"Saying that a blonde-hair, blue-eyed girl has 'good genes' is Nazi s–t."
Journalist Robby Soave described the backlash as "quite possibly the stupidest, most-likely-to-backfire liberal overreach social media pile-on in the history of the internet."
Sydney Sweeney was slammed for her American Eagle ad YouTube
This isn't the first time the blonde actress has faced criticism from the left, with some accusing her of being part of a sinister pro-white agenda.
After her her revealing appearance on Saturday Night Live last year, media outlets such as Slate criticized a few conservative-leaning publications, sarcastically framing the widespread admiration of an attractive white woman as evidence of the "end of wokeness."
The lefty outlet wrote that Sweeney's ascent "is very good news for a certain population of people who were waiting for a movie star exactly like her — someone white, blonde and all-American who, unlike Taylor Swift, hasn't yet provided the right with a reason to see her as a threat."