Sydney Sweeney's jeans advert criticised for ‘sexualising' domestic abuse awareness

Yahoo

5 days ago

Sydney Sweeney has been criticised over a 'sexualised' jeans advert raising awareness about domestic violence.
The White Lotus star has been accused of promoting eugenics and playing into sexist stereotypes with her American Eagle jeans advert, which pays tribute to her 'great genes' while the camera zooms in on her breasts and bottom.
The advert begins with the 27-year-old telling viewers: 'I'm not here to tell you to buy American Eagle jeans,' as she leans forward in her chair while the camera lingers on her chest.
'And I definitely won't say they're the most comfortable jeans I've ever worn, or that they make your butt look amazing,' she continues, with the camera zooming in on her bottom as she walks over to a mirror.
'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,' reads the tagline that flashes up on the screen, before the actress adds: 'See what I did there, right?'
According to American Eagle, the purchase price of the jeans will be donated to Crisis Text Line, a charity offering confidential mental health services. The trousers also feature a 'butterfly motif on the back pocket of [which] represents domestic violence awareness,' American Eagle's press release stated.
Rachel Tashjian, a fashion writer for The Washington Post, claimed the advert was 'regressive' and 'tethered to the values of another time'.
'It is strange to see a brand like American Eagle go in this direction. Should teenagers be served a vision of sexuality and fashion that feels so regressive?' she wrote.
Salon, the liberal news outlet, said the campaign appeared to be a 'tone-deaf marketing move'.
Sweeney has also faced scrutiny on social media for the advert, while American Eagle's video on YouTube has been flooded with comments claiming it sexualised women and promoted eugenics.
Despite the criticism, others, such as The Spectator's Paul Burke, have praised it for taking on 'woke' advertising.
'The reason the American Eagle ad is unusual is that in recent years the advertising industry, once famed for its glamour and beauty, has been colonised by pompous, po-faced pearl-clutchers,' he wrote.
'Now a new generation of advertisers is finally rebelling against the stifling sanctimony of their elders.'
In December, Jaguar-Land Rover was criticised following a controversial brand relaunch that drew criticism for being too 'woke'.
The brand ditched its iconic big cat logo and unveiled a 'fearlessly creative' bright pink car, in a move that some customers said made them feel alienated.
And in 2023, Bud Light was boycotted en masse after employing transgender model Dylan Mulvaney to advertise its beer. The outrage wiped around $20bn (£15.75bn) off the value of parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Sweeney courted controversy when in May she announced she would sell soap made out of her bathwater because her fans 'wouldn't stop asking for it'.
Some suggested her American Eagle advert paid homage to Brooke Shields' controversial Calvin Klein adverts from the 1980s, which also plays on the genes/jeans pun.
It begins with the 15-year-old child star pulling off her glasses and telling viewers: 'The secret of life lies hidden in the genetic code.'
The actress, whose mother allowed her to pose nude for Playboy aged 10, then pulls on a pair of jeans while lying on the floor, talking about 'selective mating, in which a single gene type proves superior in transmitting its genes to future generations'.
In another of the adverts, she says: 'You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.'
Similarly, in another clip for her American Eagle campaign, Sweeney says: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour.'
The camera then pans to her eyes, and she says: 'My jeans are blue.'
Online critics of the Sweeney advert have even suggested the campaign by the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress talking about her genes was 'Nazi propaganda'.
Robby Soave, a commentator with The Hill, called the claim 'stupid' as he defended the Euphoria star on social media.
'Sydney Sweeney is doing fascist propaganda, and if you like her, you're a fascist too... is quite possibly the stupidest, most-likely-to-backfire liberal overreach social media pile-on in the history of the internet,' he said.
Sabrina Carpenter, the singer, last month changed the cover art for her 'Man's Best Friend' album to a 'God approved' version after critics said the original was overly sexualised.
The first version showed the 26-year-old, wearing a black dress and high heels, on her knees reaching towards a man's leg while he grabs her by the hair.
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