On July 23, American Eagle released a YouTube advertisement for their jeans — starring actress Sydney Sweeney. The video showed Sweeny zipping up her jeans while delivering lines such as “My jeans are blue.” At the end of the video, a narrator says, “SYDNEY SWEENY HAS GREAT JEANS,” a spin on the homonyms “genes” and “jeans.”
The video faced immediate backlash on social media; people believed American Eagle was, in some sense, advocating white supremacy. With Sweeny being a white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman, critics online disliked how only women with those qualities were presented to have “good genes,” sidestepping people of other races and backgrounds. The ad was taken down nine days after.
The fallout from this campaign was immediate; less than two weeks after American Eagle aired their commercial, Levi’s released their own denim clothing advertisement named “The Denim Cowboy” on Aug. 4. The ad featured singer Beyoncé as the model, showcasing flared jeans contoured to her body. This campaign utilized a combination of television, digital, social media and outdoor advertising, highlighting their 501 Curve jeans collection — each pair selling for around $100.
The advertisement also highlighted women’s empowerment and received great attention; it generated over 4.3 billion impressions and more than $65 million in earned media value.
Not to miss out on the ongoing trend, GAP released their “Better in Denim” advertisement on denim clothing on Aug. 19, featuring their jean products with the girl group KATSEYE. GAP and KATSEYE gained over 576 million views and eight billion impressions; the ad reached the number one search on TikTok during the launch week. Following the campaign, the limited edition KATSEYE GAP hoodie sold out quickly.
The ad also aimed to promote diversity and inclusion through a representation of the six different members of KATSEYE who come from different countries, showing how denim is meant for anyone, no matter their ethnic background.
Between these three clothing brands, most of the initial attraction was centered around Sydney Sweeney and her advertisement with American Eagle. Following the major online criticism, accusing the company and Sweeney of white supremacy, American Eagle responded to the backlash with an Instagram post, stating that it was only an ad for jeans and had nothing to do with genes, diverging away from the political controversy. In contrast to American Eagle, the Katseye GAP ad took over in consistent attraction after the initial burst, thriving in virality and cultural resonance.
Clothing brands thus benefited from the controversy, as they created their own ads to market their denim clothing. American Eagle reported that it gained around 800,000 new customers within the first six weeks, with total revenue reaching $1.28 billion. Additionally, denim sales increased by 40% during the campaign’s duration, resulting in an overall sales uptick.
Overall, through the contentious American Eagle denim jeans advertisement, companies profited from the backlash, selling out products within days that had never received this much attention before.
