A new advertising campaign by American Eagle featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has sparked a wave of online controversy, with critics accusing the brand of promoting racist undertones and even Nazi-related imagery.
The backlash has centered on a wordplay used in the campaign, which compares Sweeney’s “genes” to “jeans.”
The campaign has provoked strong reactions from some users on TikTok and other social media platforms.
The campaign debuted in mid-2025 and includes multiple video spots starring Sweeney, known for her role in HBO’s “Euphoria.”
The ad campaign features the actress speaking to the camera, saying that genes are passed on and can determine “traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.”
She then concludes the line with, “my jeans are blue,” setting up a pun between biological genes and denim jeans.
One video shows a billboard with the text “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.”
In the video, Sweeney walks up to the billboard, crosses out the word “genes,” and writes “jeans” instead.
The narrator adds a voiceover line: “Sydney Sweeney, has great jeans.”
American Eagle’s approach appears to be a classic example of cheeky advertising aimed at drawing attention through humor and double meaning. However, a number of users on TikTok have interpreted the campaign as more than a pun, accusing the brand of reinforcing racial superiority narratives and promoting ideals associated with Nazi propaganda.
One of the most widely circulated TikTok videos was posted by a user under the name Angie VM Marketing.
In the clip, she says, “Praising Sydney Sweeney for her great genes in the context of her white, blue-eyed appearance, it is one of the loudest and most obvious racialized dog whistles we’ve seen and heard in a while. When those traits are consistently uplifted as genetic excellence we know where this leads…”
The comment has been echoed by other users on social media, some of whom drew direct comparisons between the ad and 1930s Germany.
One TikTok commenter responded, “It’s giving ‘Subtle 1930s Germany.’”
Another user claimed, “Sydney Sweeney does not have great genes. I like my genes thick, big booty & without racist undertones.”
A third widely shared comment stated, “This is what happens when you have no ppl 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 ppl in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not white.”
Writer Ella Yurman added to the criticism in a tweet, writing, “ohhhh haha like GENES!! i get it! she has good jeans like she has good GENES! hahahaha like in a nazi way!! totally!!!!”
The New York Post outlined that the controversy unfolded quickly across social media platforms over the weekend, with the debate generating hundreds of videos and posts reacting to the campaign.
Sweeney, who has not publicly responded to the backlash, has become a frequent topic of cultural debate in recent years.
In 2024, she hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live,” where her outfit became a viral sensation and triggered a broader media discussion.
In response to the media reaction, columnist Bridget Phetasy published a piece in The Spectator titled “Boobs Are Back,” celebrating Sweeney’s look as a cultural shift.
That article, in turn, prompted criticism from writers like Ali Barthwell, who accused the piece of promoting “fatphobia, misogyny, anti-blackness, [and] transphobia.”
WATCH:
The post Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Campaign Triggers Accusations of ‘Nazi Propaganda’ Online appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Jordyn M.
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://resistthemainstream.org and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
