Sydney Sweeney’s latest ad campaign with American Eagle has sparked criticism online, with some accusing the brand of using messaging that echoes problematic language around eugenics.
The 27-year-old Euphoria star is the face of the denim retailer’s new campaign, which includes a limited-edition style called The Sydney Jean – a wide-leg fit created in collaboration with the actor.
The ads feature Sweeney in a series of promotional images and videos, including one clip where she wipes clean a storefront poster of herself wearing head-to-toe denim.
The tagline originally reads: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes” before the word “Genes” is crossed out and replaced with “Jeans.”
That phrase appears repeatedly throughout the campaign, which is being promoted across digital platforms and in-store displays.
However, critics have called out the “Great Genes” wordplay, pointing out that the term has historical associations with eugenics – a now widely discredited movement that promoted the idea of improving the human race through selective breeding.
The phrase has also been commonly used to celebrate traditional beauty standards, particularly thinness and whiteness.
Many social media users were quick to call out the campaign’s underlying message, criticising both the lack of diversity and the decision to use the phrase “great genes.”
Taking to X, one penned: “I like Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle as much as the next guy but ‘we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’ is a crazy tagline for selling jeans”.
“Maybe I'm too f***ing woke. But getting a blue-eyed, blonde, white woman and focusing your campaign around her having perfect genetics feels weird,” another shared.
Meanwhile on Instagram, one user commented under American Eagle’s advertisement: “This is what happens when you have no people of color in a room.
“Particularly in a time like this. This ad campaign got so caught up in this ‘clever’ play on words and this stunt, the people in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not White.”
Another element of Sweeney’s new campaign appears to have gone under the radar.
According to the press release, the butterfly design stitched onto the back pocket of “The Sydney Jean” is a symbol of domestic violence awareness.
The brand also revealed that 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the jeans will go to Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering 24/7 confidential mental health support.
i like Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle as much as the next guy but “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” is a crazy tagline for selling jeans
— Maybe: goated (@wimdawgg) July 26, 2025
If you watched those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads you’d never know they were fundraising for a domestic violence charity
— shreya (@shreyabasu003) July 26, 2025
Despite the meaningful initiative, many people on X have pointed out that the campaign’s charitable focus isn’t made clear in the ads themselves.
One fan pointed out on X: “That Sydney [Sweeney] American Eagle ad was supposed to be about raising awareness for domestic violence, and that's the approach they chose.”
“If you watched those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads, you’d never know they were fundraising for a domestic violence charity,” a second remarked.
The American Eagle launch comes just months after Sweeney made headlines with her unconventional product drop, a limited-edition soap bar said to contain her actual bathwater.
Bathwater Bliss created in partnership with Dr. Squatch, was released after the actor said: “When your fans start asking for your bathwater, you can either ignore it, or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap.”
Only 5,000 bars were produced and sold out within minutes.
The Standard has contacted Sydney Sweeney’s rep and American Eagle for comment.
