American Eagle is defending its new ad campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney after drawing outrage online and even garnering a response from the White House.
In a statement shared Friday on its Instagram account, the clothing retailer attempted to clarify the intention of the ads.
“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” the statement read. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Unveiled last week, the American Eagle ads find Sweeney ― whose acting credits include “Euphoria” and “Anyone But You” ― donning a variety of denim ensembles alongside a tagline featuring wordplay on “jeans” and “genes.”
The campaign is believed to have been intended as a tribute to Brooke Shields’ 1980 Calvin Klein ad, which was also controversial for its time. However, many viewers interpreted the ad’s use of a double entendre as non-inclusive, with some even likening it to “white supremacy” and “Nazi propaganda.”
