From good jeans to gene mutation: An Israeli take on Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad is pushing women to learn their breast cancer risk
The impression made by American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney ad campaign, which was launched a month ago, has yet to fade. The ad's controversial pun,"Sydney Sweeney has great jeans," referring both to the jeans modeled by the American actress and to her genetics as a white, blond and blue-eyed woman, sparked a wave of reactions, parodies and online debates, including criticism claiming it promotes ideas of white supremacy and eugenics.
In Israel, a similar campaign was launched this past weekend. Israeli actress Yael Bar Zohar, also modelling a denim suit, starred in an ad campaign for the non-profit organization One in Nine, which supports women with breast cancer. Its tagline reads: "Yael Bar Zohar has good genes, and still makes sure to get checked." Beyond the clever reference to the Sweeney ad, the message is sharp: no matter who you are, where you come from, or how you look – every woman is at risk of developing breast cancer.
Advances in the field of genetics in recent decades have enabled the healthcare system to define risk groups and pinpoint genetic and ethnic profiles that may predict disease. Extensive efforts have been made to raise awareness that Jewish women of Ashkenazi, Iraqi and North African descent are at higher risk of carrying genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast cancer, such as BRCA1, BRCA2 and others.
