American Eagle Employee’s Posts Shocking Comment on LinkedIn After Sydney Sweeney’s “Great Jeans” Backlash

By The Hyperhive

31 July 2025

A simple jeans ad turned into a nationwide controversy.

That’s what happened when American Eagle launched their latest campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.

The tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” seemed harmless at first, but it quickly stirred up trouble online.

People started questioning the ad’s message, and an employee’s LinkedIn post made things even messier.

Let’s dive into what happened and why it’s causing such a stir.

Sydney Sweeney American Eagle Controversy: A Play on Words Gone Wrong

The American Eagle campaign, launched on July 23, 2025, aimed to promote their new denim collection with Sydney Sweeney as the star. The slogan played on the words “jeans” and “genes,” with Sweeney saying in one ad, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”

The camera focused on her blue eyes, which led many to see the ad as promoting a specific beauty standard—blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin. Critics on platforms like TikTok and X called it out, accusing the campaign of hinting at eugenics, a discredited idea about improving the human race through selective breeding. Some even labeled it as “Nazi propaganda” or “white supremacy,” pointing to the lack of diversity in the ad’s messaging.

The backlash grew fast. A TikTok video by rapper Doja Cat mocking the ad got over 20 million views, while another user, @payalforstyle, highlighted how the ad might make non-white teens feel left out. The campaign’s focus on Sweeney’s appearance, combined with its wordplay, struck a nerve in a time when cultural sensitivity is a hot topic.

An Employee’s Post Adds Fuel

Things took a turn when Ashley Schapiro, American Eagle’s vice president of marketing, posted on LinkedIn about the campaign. She shared that during a Zoom call, they asked Sweeney, “How far do you want to push it?” Sweeney reportedly replied, “Let’s push it, I’m game.” Schapiro praised the campaign’s “culture-shaping power” and Sweeney’s bold approach.

But as criticism poured in, the comments on her post turned negative, leading American Eagle to disable them. This move was seen by some as damage control, but it didn’t stop the debate. Many felt the post showed a lack of awareness about how the campaign’s message could be interpreted.

American Eagle also posted an Instagram image of a woman of color wearing jeans with the caption, “AE has great jeans,” which some users called a rushed attempt to address the criticism. The original ad’s core message stayed the same, and neither Sweeney nor American Eagle issued a public statement, which added to the frustration for some.

A Bigger Picture

Despite the controversy, the campaign was a commercial hit. American Eagle’s stock rose 10–18% in the days after the launch, and “The Sydney Jean,” a limited-edition denim designed with Sweeney, sold out quickly.

The jeans featured a butterfly motif to raise awareness for domestic violence, with proceeds going to Crisis Text Line, a mental health support nonprofit. However, many noted that this cause wasn’t clear in the ads, which focused heavily on Sweeney’s appearance.

The debate around the campaign reflects a larger cultural divide. Some praised it as a push against “woke” advertising, with figures like White House communications director Steven Cheung calling the backlash “cancel culture run amok.” Others, like marketing professor Dr. Marcus Collins, argued that the ad’s focus on a white, blonde, blue-eyed woman as the ideal sends a harmful message about beauty standards.

This controversy shows how a simple ad can spark big conversations about race, marketing, and responsibility. American Eagle and Sweeney are now navigating a tricky situation, with no easy answers in sight.