American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney, and an attempt at ‘coolness’ that backfired

Aug 2, 2025 07:43 IST

First published on: Aug 2, 2025 at 07:43 IST

What do the biggest corporations in the world and that annoying uncle/aunt in every family have in common? They’re both try-hards — attempting “coolness” to fit in with the kids. The latest desperate attempt at this “coolness” comes from clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle through a series of advertisements starring Sydney Sweeney. Unfortunately for the company, these have backfired and received widespread flak for “pandering to the male and White gaze.” One of them has a lingering close-up of Sweeney’s chest, another features her pasting a poster that reads: “Sydney Sweeney has great genes jeans.” An ad that has been taken down by the company — it has been criticised as eugenics-speak — has Sweeney saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”

From the woke moment half a decade ago to today, companies have made attempts, often clumsily, to tap into the political zeitgeist. At a time when the dominant political force in the US is rooting for “traditional” gender roles, and flirting with White supremacy, the American Eagle ad evidently attempted to reap the cultural moment. For companies looking for opportunities to balloon their profit margins, this is par for the course. Except when it runs into controversy. Remember the 2017 Pepsi commercial starring Kendall Jenner? When the Black Lives Matter movement was at the centre of the news cycle following incidents of police brutality and the acquittal of the alleged killers of Philando Castile, the ad featured Jenner walking up to a policeman, Pepsi in hand, while participating in a nondescript protest. Needless to say, it was ill received.

At the heart of it is a bottom line: If companies like American Eagle and Pepsi have one cause, it is to never lose a customer (read: Profit). A boycott, outrage and a half-hearted apology later, Pepsi learnt the lesson American Eagle might now wake up to. It goes something like this: Dear companies, a sure-shot way to avoid hot water? Stop trying so hard to play “cool”.