Marketers react to American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney ad: Virality vs. value

Campaign ME

2 days ago

If there's one topic that absolutely every marketer seems to have an opinion on at the moment – whether spoken out loud, or silently in coffee huddles, or not verbalised but constantly thought about – it's New York Stock Exchange-listed American Eagle Outfitters' Sydney Sweeney campaign.
The discussions brought back the age-old debate about how marketing campaigns ought to be judged and measured – whether success is purely based on business outcomes, brand sentiment and brand lift studies, or its social impact and effectiveness in terms of moving the needle on purpose-led conversations?
At the time of writing, American Eagle shares had climbed 17 per cent since the July 23 launch of the Sydney Sweeney ad campaign, raising the apparel retailer's stock to $12.58, marking a 23.94 per cent lift month on month and sending the brand's market capitalisation soaring to $2.2bn.
However, data that drives past financial milestones shows a potential reputational and brand hit, with foot traffic falling 9 per cent year-on-year for the week of August 3 to August 9, a considerable drop considering a 4 per cent decline in foot traffic the previous week, according to data shared by retail market intelligence company pass_by.
Although American Eagle's mention volume rose 18 times higher following the campaign launch, according to Signal AI data, its sentiment toward the brand plummeted from +50 to -31.
Meanwhile, data and insights company Consumer Edge reported that traffic to American Eagle's US website bumped up more than 60 per cent on July 28, compared with the same day the previous year, closing off the first week of the campaign's launch on a high, although several other reports indicate that sales haven't risen considerably year on year, the brand has reportedly recorded more than $2mn in sales already.
Campaign Middle East kept a close eye on how brand and marketing leaders in the region have reacted, sharing their opinions on various social media channels.
Here's a brief compilation of some of their thoughts:
Hubert Boulos, Founder of Das Kapital, said: (sic) 'Ok loads of interpretations, like ' is this the end of woke-ism?' etc.. in the end it's just a funny clever idea that built business beyond imagination: genes sound like Jeans , a celebrity and boom… sales through the roof ( it increased the market capitalization of the brand by 400 Million USD in one day!)That's why the algorithm hates advertising… it beats it anytime and it's not even close. This is clever and light yet it did wonders. Just imagine campaigns with a little bit more creativity and depth… Ideas do actually work!'
Marwa Kaabour, Group Marketing and Corporate Communications Director, Al Masaood, said: 'We've seen this before. Brands chasing attention, not intention. Provocation over purpose. And it shows. Advertising can be funny. Yet, it can even be polarising. But it must, at the very least, be aware. Aware of timing. Aware of tone. Aware of the cultural moment we're all living in. Not this jeans, not for me, not for many. There's something profoundly unsettling about American Eagle's latest campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney — and no, it's not just the awkward wordplay. Let's forget the controversy for just a second. Strip it back to the core idea. Even then — it doesn't hold. It's not that the campaign is offensive by design. It's that it's creatively thin. A hollow concept dressed up in celebrity gloss. A tagline that leans on legacy ideals of beauty and genetics. And a moment of silence where cultural insight should've been.'
Mazen Hayek, an advisor to senior officials and C-suite executives in the region, pointed out how American Eagle 'doubled down on its controversial ad campaign'. He said, 'American Eagle's ad featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has ignited a new brand-driven culture war about beauty standards, race and representation. While the campaign first went viral on social media, it also garnered coverage in roughly 3,000 news articles. Those generated more than 50 million readers, according to Memo readership data shared with Axios.'
Fatima Shaikh, Director – Strategy, Content and Innovation – AI, Radix Media MENA, highlighted viewpoints of many others who sat on the fence, saying, 'For once, I don't seem to have an opinion. Not sure if it was good or bad. Well intended or cheeky. Smart or just bizarre.'
Globally, Chelsea Burns, CEO, The Marketing Psychologist, shared, 'The campaign was engineered for outrage. Not resonance. Not representation. But reactivity. And that's exactly what happened. Over 200 million impressions in 48 hours. A dopamine spike for the brand. A cortisol crash for the audience.
But here's the thing:
📉 Attention doesn't equal alignment.
📉 Nostalgia doesn't equal trust.
📉 And virality doesn't equal value.'
Sharing a directly opposing viewpoint to 'virality doesn't equal value', Rhonda Swan, CEO, The Unstoppable Branding Agency, said, 'Virality beats vanilla. Was it controversial? Absolutely. Was it intentional? No question. Was it genius? 100 per cent. American Eagle didn't just drop a campaign … they dropped a cultural bomb. And it worked:
✅ $2M+ in sales
✅ Thousands of shares, stitches, and headlines
✅ Everyone talking…whether they loved it or hated it
They didn't sell jeans. They sold attention. They sold a moment. They sold emotion …and the world clicked, commented and converted.'
The jury's still out on whether the marketing world is going to reach a consensus. If you've got an opinion and would like it to be added into this article, drop us an email.