Sydney Sweeney And American Eagle Ad Invokes Racist Ideology

With the shifting political landscape in the country, American Eagle may be looking to expand its reach to far-right consumers with a new ad campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. The ad prominently features a play on words, genes—in direct reference to Sweeney’s blue eyes and (bottle-dyed) blonde hair—and the jeans she’s advertising, raising questions about the company’s alleged value of inclusivity.  

A 15-second clip from the campaign opens up with a camera seductively panning up Sweeney’s body before landing on her blue eyes as she talks about her genes. 

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” she says. “My jeans are blue.” 

Immediately after seductively talking about genes, the ad ends with a voice-over saying, “Sydney Sweeney has great Jeans.” 

The American Eagle ad featuring a blue-eyed Sweeney and the interplay between genes and jeans was neither an accident nor just a tasteless one-off clip. It was an intentional aspect of the campaign. As reported by NBC, an Instagram post from American Eagle shows Sweeney in front of a poster of herself, claiming she has “good genes,” with the word “genes” crossed out and the word “Jeans” written underneath. 

The far right is obsessed with “good genes.” 

While many attribute the obsession with Blonde hair and blue eyes to Nazis, it’s a combination long upheld in the United States as the ultimate beauty standard.  Along with particular body types, nose size, etc., these things have been held up as ideals of who is worthy, valuable, and beautiful while othering all those who don’t fall into this artificially contrived norm. 

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are among those fixated on racist views on genetics and the alleged superiority of “good genes.” Trump has made claims that certain immigrants have “bad genes,” which has fueled the cruel and chaotic deportation and detention policies of his second administration. 

In September 2020, the American Society of Human Genetics released a statement regarding “good genes” as a concept. 

“There is no factual basis for attempts to define communities or regions of people with ‘good’ or ‘bad’ genes, and a century of science has debunked such claims, which can feed discredited views and racist ideologies,” read the statement. “Unchecked, unethical application of false genetic ‘theories’ have resulted in past atrocities from forced sterilizations to the Holocaust and can still fuel unethical social policies worldwide today.”

But the MAGA right’s weaponization of “Blonde privilege” has been well documented. In August 2017, the Cut ran the story “Political Peroxide—Blonde privilege,” engaging with what seemed to be a uniform standard of blonde white women on the right:

But #MAGA, Fox News America is a place where all the classic signifiers of privilege and wealth work on overdrive: country-club-issue blue blazers with brass buttons and khaki pants, and above all else, for women, that yellow-blonde, carefully tended hair — a dog whistle of whiteness, an unspoken declaration of values, a wink-wink to the power of racial privilege and to the 1980s vibe that pervades a movement led by a man who still believes in the guilt of the Central Park Five.

In the last eight years, the digital and cultural relevance of the multigenerational ecosystem conceptualized by The Cut has expanded across online communities. Extremism online and far-right propaganda have been documented even in the most unlikely sources, even where people have claimed to be non-political. 

Research from Media Matters has documented how far-right ideologies have infiltrated many cultural spaces across social media, including wellness and lifestyle. Given the hostile corporate environment, it’s no surprise a major company would take a leap in this way. 

Everything old really doesn’t need to be new again.

Despite the saying, not everything old needs to be new, particularly white supremacist race science, obsessions with good genes, or standards of beauty and acceptability. This isn’t just some ignorance of something long past; it’s a direct flirtation and attempt to gain interest from a faction actively trying to remove all of us declared undesirable. 

While some have compared the campaign to a Calvin Klein Jeans campaign featuring an underage Brooke Shields, it is also reminiscent of the early 2000s racist t-shirts released by Abercrombie and Fitch. 

The blatantly racist anti-Asian shirts had slogans like “Wong Brothers Laundry Service—Two Wongs Make it White.” As SF Gate reported, the shirts featured stereotypical caricatures of Asian people with slanted eyes and rice-paddy hats. 

A release for the campaign said the roll out  would build on the “campaign’s cheeky energy” and feature “innovative media strategies that push boundaries and capture attention.” 

Financial results for American Eagle’s parent company, AEO, INC, released in May 2025, explained the company had a challenging first quarter but remained “resilient.” The campaign also comes as the company previously reported a 2 percent decline in sales for American Eagle. The powers that be might have included the far right enticement in an effort to boost sales, or possibly stay off the MAGA target list. 

Over the last six months, we’ve seen businesses and organizations across industries scramble to avoid the wrath of the empowered MAGA mob. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Fortune reported that 45 companies were on a MAGA anti-DEI hit list. Fast Company reported in March that nearly 75% of corporate executives said they were “losing sleep” over the administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion witch-hunt. 

Far-right cultivation of Gen Z online is a rising concern .

But anyone trying to engage a digital generation and understand the online landscape who chooses this approach cannot later claim it wasn’t the intention. Either they are colossally out of step, or lying. The digital engagement components build on the company’s brand platform “Live Your Life,” which, according to its release, “encourages today’s digital generation to enjoy the world around them through optimism, culture, and connection.” 

Time will tell if the far-right praise was worth it. Aside from the far right fixation on blonde hair and blue eyes as the epitome of great genes, this runs counter to the body positivity and inclusivity movement of which Foyle is heralded as being a leader. 

But the “cheeky” play with racists could also point to feckless leadership chasing bad ideas to close sales gaps. 

Whether Fowler, Sweeney, or American Eagle like it or not, this ad campaign must be viewed within the context of the current political landscape. This is exactly why people who can think about the bigger picture need to be in the decision-making room.  

Content influences culture, and culture informs how we engage in the world around us. Advertisements have the potential to drive and reinforce cultural standards, and who is seen or valued as worthy. Given the resurgence of rhetoric and ideologies that promote stereotypical standards of whiteness as the norm, it’s important to demand that companies that want our money do better.  

Some of the youngest Gen Z will be eligible to vote for the first time in 2028. A June 2025 Axios report highlighted how the digital world engaging Gen Z has led to a growing “political incubator” for the Republican Party. Reporters explained how, within an hour of being online, their Gen Z personas were taken down a red pill pipeline of content. 

Young people today are coming of age in a country that is being governed by a political machine determined to erase everyone who doesn’t fit a particular standard, and the long history of repression in this country. 

The digital engagement and messaging lobbied at them have the potential to shift culture and awareness of the world around them. Consumer ads and related media are no exception. 

SEE ALSO: 

Migrants’ ‘Genes’: Trump Dog Whistles

South African Refugee Program Is White’s Only, Report Says

Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle Ad Appeals To Racist ‘Good Genes’ Ideology   was originally published on newsone.com