Reputation strategist on why Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad sparked controversy
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New York Post
a minute ago
- New York Post
Corporate America is not falling for the left's outrage over Sydney Sweeney's ‘good jeans' ad
The left is trying its best to stir up a furor over the recent Sydney Sweeney jeans (or is it genes) TV commercial to ignite a backlash similar to the Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light debacle. Sorry progressives, it ain't happening. Yes, there's lots of chirping from lefty columnists, purple-haired TikTok influencers, late-night hosts who are still employed, and assorted wokesters after American Eagle had the audacity to feature the attractive blond, blue-eyed actress expressing her sartorial flair in a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans. Advertisement 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color . . . my jeans are blue,' the 'Euphoria' star says. The ad ends with a voice-over: 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.' Blond women? Blue-eyed? Good genes (I mean jeans)? Oh, the horror! That's if you are listening to the leftist commentariat that still hasn't piped down weeks after the spot first appeared. The lefties are freaking because they think the jeans company is looking to bring back the bad old days, pre-George Floyd of course, when white blond oppressors ruled over American culture. Advertisement It's all very Hitler-like to the progressive numbskull class, but not to just about every other segment of American society. Most Americans of all colors and genders either don't care, or they know good genes and jeans when they see it. I know this based on lots of reporting on the mind virus known wokeness — the progressive orthodoxy that embraces everything from cultural Marxism, DEI and, of course, the oppressor-oppressed theology. We are a diverse country, and that's good. The wokesters take it to a level that excludes rather than includes. Good-looking white people, particularly if their hair is that evil shade known as blond, are nowhere near the intersectional matrix they demand for hiring or image making in their version of America. Advertisement That's why Sydney Sweeney, known more for her cleavage than her politics, has become a touchstone in our culture wars, and here's why the attacks won't work: Wokeness was once big in the business world, but notice my use of the past tense. Corporate America listened to these kooks for many reasons, including their own progressive management leanings, with disastrous results. They learned the hard way that most Americans of all races hate being proselytized with political dogma, particularly of the left-wing variety that pushes the limits of identity and gender politics beyond cultural norms. I chronicled this spectacle with a healthy dose of schadenfreude in my book 'Go Woke Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America.' Just a few short years ago, DEI was the norm; so was radical environmentalism pushed by asset managers through something called ESG investing. It was difficult finding a straight man or woman — God forbid a blond — who survived the Madison Avenue woke censor machine. Budweiser thought its customers were ready for a commercial featuring a half-naked trans woman in a bubble bath. Disney decided it could sell more kids programming featuring same-sex kissing scenes. Money managers like BlackRock thought they could increase returns by advocating environmentalism and de facto racial quotas on their portfolio companies. Advertisement All of the above resulted in some of the biggest brand-destroying disasters in modern business history. Marketing is a lot like politics. It's a business of addition, not subtraction. You build customers just like you attract voters, through messaging that unites rather than divides — or customers flee. There are exceptions, of course. Niche brands like Ben & Jerry's ice cream attempt and succeed at targeting the tree-hugger demo. Try this stuff on a mass audience and you will get the beatdown of the century. The predictable customer revolt impacted the businesses of Budweiser, Disney and BlackRock in such a measurable way that shareholders revolted, too, forcing some of the most progressive CEOs in the world to course-correct. That's why the Sydney Sweeney uproar will go nowhere with the people who matter most: Most American consumers, and American Eagle shareholders. Unless you're stretching it like Silly Putty, there's nothing inherently political about a pretty blond (dare I say 'All American'-looking) woman in jeans and pointing out the health of her genes to sell stuff. Zero. Zilch. Otherwise, Pamela Anderson would have been a poster child for Aryan Nations instead of the 'Baywatch' babe most American men and many women adored, and still do. Shares of American Eagle are up since the Sydney Sweeney ad ran, despite the backlash. NYU Marketing Professor Eitan Muller points out the obvious, telling Fox Business's Teuta Dedvukaj that the commercial 'attracts attention, drives Google searches, and boosts the brand. Yes, she does have great genes — and it rings authentic. That's what you want from an ad.' My bet: You will be seeing a lot more of Sydney Sweeney. Most men will be rejoicing, many women will buy the company's jeans. Management will be rewarded with higher sales and a stock price that matches. The attacks will ultimately fail for the same reason Mulvaney's tenure as a spokeswoman for Bud Light was so short-lived. Recall: The nation's Number 1-selling beer dropped to Number 3 and never recovered. Sydney Sweeney has both good jeans and genes and there's nothing the wokesters can do to change that reality.
Fox News
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- Fox News
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Fox News
2 minutes ago
- Fox News
'Golden Bachelor' star Mel Owens does damage control after controversial age preference comments
Mel Owens, the new face of "The Golden Bachelor," is doing damage control. The former NFL linebacker turned reality star found himself in hot water after he revealed he asked the people behind the reality show to present him with female contestants between the ages of 45 and 60. After his comment sparked backlash, Owens, 66, addressed the controversy surrounding his remarks about dating preferences. When asked why he made the comments, Owens replied in an interview with Glamour, "Because I didn't know anything about The Golden Bachelor ages. I didn't." He explained, "I had watched the first show when I was younger, when it first launched or something in 2002, until my son was born. But then when he was born, I didn't watch it anymore. So when these people talk about, 'Hey, this season and that season,' I didn't know the age range because I wasn't watching it." Instead, Owens said his idea of the "golden" years was based on his personal frame of reference — not the show's legacy. "I'm thinking, to me, the age range was 45 to 60. That's my age range. I'm thinking that's the gold years for me. My reference, again, was when I was dating at 39, 40. I hadn't dated in 26 years, so I had no clue. And that's why I said that comment," he admitted. "I didn't know. I didn't know. And I didn't know that [Gerry Turner, the original Golden Bachelor] got married and then divorced. I didn't know any of it." Owens, who's currently filming the upcoming season set to premiere in September, said he faced the issue head-on the moment cameras rolled. "When I first walked in, I addressed it. I apologized to them. I said, 'It was unfair, insensitive. I want to earn it back. Just give me the chance,'" he continued to explain. "And hopefully, these last two weeks I earned some of that back." However, not everyone was quick to forgive — especially during one particular group date. "One of the dates was a roast. It was brutal. They were killing me," Owens confessed. "They're brilliant. It's shocking how brilliant they are." Reps for Owens did not immediately respond back to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The drama comes after Owens faced criticism for opening up about his strict criteria when it came to choosing a life partner. While speaking on the "In the Trenches" podcast, Owens didn't hold back, sharing that he had no interest in dating women "60 and over" and made it clear to producers he didn't want anyone cast with "artificial hips" or "wigs." "It's blind up until they get out of the limo. But they asked me, 'What's your preferences?' So, I just said 45 to 60, just being honest," Owens said. "And then the process went, and I was selected, right? And then we had lunch with the executive producer. I said, 'You know, if they're 60 or over, I'm cutting them.' 'Oh Mel, you can't, you know, this is not the 'Silver Bachelor.' It's the 'Golden Bachelor.' He goes, 'but they're going to be hot, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it.'" Owens added that he expected the contestants to all be in good shape. "I had no resume, but they asked me, what is my, like, my profile?" Owens said. "Well, they got to be fit because I stay in shape, should work out and stuff. And I told them, you know, try to stay away from the artificial hips and the wigs, you know, that kind of stuff, right." In a press release for the show, producers revealed that Owens was previously married for 25 years and is a proud father of two sons. He hopes to find a love "rooted in the simple joys of companionship — sharing life's everyday moments, making plans for the future and growing stronger together as a couple."
