American Eagle’s jean campaign sparks outrage with viewers after actor and co-star Sydney Sweeney states in the ad, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color… My jeans are blue.” Many who watched this were furious and demanded answers from American Eagle for putting out what some consumers saw as “Nazi propaganda” and racist remarks. After this incident in July, Gap released a jeans campaign of their own.
Gap featured the diverse girl group, KATSEYE, dancing to Kelis’s “Milkshake.” Multiple outlets like “The Washington Post” and “ABC News” describe Gap’s ad as timing itself “amid controversy” and delivering a “refreshing counter-narrative” to AE’s campaign. However, Gap has not issued an exact statement claiming the ad was a direct response to American Eagle.
On the other hand, American Eagle issued a statement on Instagram in the beginning of August saying, “It is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Joanna Pasta, a sophomore, and Janell Inthavong, a junior, voiced their own opinion on the topic and what they think about it.
“Hmm I think it’s reasonable to fight since they criticized each other, but Sydney Sweeney is usually in that type of genre, so I’m not sure what people are mad about,” stated Pasta. “But like I also don’t like the stereotypical western beauty you know.”
Inthavong also had a similar outlook and expressed a similar view. “Honestly, this whole thing is a mess, but American Eagle should not have worded things like that. It made them look really bad.” She also noted that she really enjoyed Gap’s ad.
Overall, both jean brands have their own way of promoting their clothing brands with American Eagle going for edgy, provocative campaigns; while Gap focuses on diversity, authenticity, and community-driven style.
