Degrading, racist, sexist, shot to satisfy the male gaze…every detail of Sydney Sweeney’s new ad campaign for American Eagle has drawn harsh criticism. For the past week or so, social networks have been abuzz with indignation at images of the actor posing lasciviously in her “great jeans”—a tagline that has eugenicist undertones, according to detractors.
Now, even Donald Trump apparently has an opinion on the matter. “She’s a registered Republican?” he said on Sunday after a reporter told him Sweeney’s alleged political affiliation. “Oh, now I love her ad…. You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans. That’s what I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.” (Sweeney is registered as a Republican in Florida, the New York Post writes, citing public voter records. A rep for the actor has not responded to a request for comment.)
On Monday, Trump opined further via Truth Social. “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” he wrote, before weighing in on a series of brands—Bud Light, Jaguar, and Taylor Swift—who supposedly lost market and cultural capital due to their “woke” mindset. “The tide has seriously turned—Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
One of the clips from the campaign in question begins with Sweeney, broom in hand, as she finishes pasting a poster on a wall that reads, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.” The last word is then crossed out and replaced by “jeans.” The campaign is tongue-in-cheek, using wordplay while starring an actor whose own looks fit an old beauty ideal: lanky figure, fine features, big blue eyes, blonde hair. In another ad, we see Sweeney reclining on a couch as she squirms while fastening her pants and whispers, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My genes are blue.” Then a male narrator concludes, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”