Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Great Jeans’ American Eagle Ad Sparks Backlash: Controversy Explained

Sydney Sweeney’s sexy persona came out in a recent American Eagle campaign touting her “great jeans” — but the ad sparked controversy and backlash amongst social media users.

From claims of over-sexualization to accusations of promoting eugenics, keep scrolling to see how the campaign sparked multiple controversies:

Targeting the Wrong Audience and Oversexualization

After Sweeney posed in an American Eagle photoshoot on July 23, the imagery went viral and caused a stir with people who believed it to be targeted at the wrong audience due to its oversexualization of Sweeney’s body.

The video ad starts off with a camera zooming in on Sweeney’s cleavage. “My body’s composition is determined by my genes,” Sweeney said in a seductive voice. “Hey, eyes up here,” she told the camera as it flashed to her face. A narrator’s voice then said, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”

In another ad, she leaned over the hood of a car and gave viewers another glimpse of her curves. She then walked away from the vehicle and brushed her hands on her bum while the camera zoomed in.

Social media users were quick to react to the clips, which didn’t even show her modeling in a pair of jeans. “She knows she’s selling jeans for WOMEN and not men, right??😭” one wrote via TikTok on July 26. More commented, “This is just degrading? Omg we are literally going backwards,” while another added, “I feel uncomfortable and sad.”

According to PitchGrade, American Eagle mostly aims for young female shoppers between the ages of 15 and 25. “American Eagle is like for pre-teens too what the heck that’s where I went to when I was a kid I’m so confused,” a TikTok user commented.

In photo imagery, the Anyone But You actress went topless while wearing a pair of the brand’s dark denim pants. She covered her chest with a jean jacket and gazed into the camera.

She also lay on the floor and pulled one of her legs up in the air while rocking a baggy pair of pants and a white T-shirt, which she tied into a crop top.

Sweeney Wants to Be Less Sexualized

Sweeney’s campaign comes after she opened up about the way people talk about her body in March 2024, while chatting with Variety.

“I just can’t allow myself to have a reaction. I don’t know how to explain it — I’m still trying to figure it out myself,” she said. “People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I’ve signed my life away.” The Euphoria star added, “It’s this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over.”

Sweeney’s American Eagle Ad Sparks Concerns of Eugenics

In another video ad posted on Monday, July 28, Sweeney and American Eagle sparked a conversation on eugenics, which is a largely discredited belief that aimed to improve the genetics of the human species. Eugenics is an unscientific and racially biased study that was adopted by the Nazi party and is associated with white supremacy.

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” Sweeney said, which wasn’t only referring to her pants, but also her eye color.

People found her commentary to be “scary” because it appeared to be “promoting eugenics.”

“American Eagle needs to delete those Sydney Sweeney ads. They are genuinely scary,” a fan wrote via social media. A second shared, “Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle promoting eugenics and pushing the aryan race Nazi propaganda was not in my 2025 bingo card,” while a third wrote that the brand was “sexualizing tf out of her and hinting at nazism.”

At the time of publication, the video ad appears to have since been deleted from American Eagle’s social media pages.

Comparable to Brooke Shields’ Controversial Jeans Ad

Sweeney and American Eagle took inspiration from Brooke Shields’ famous 1980s Calvin Klein ad, in which she slid into a pair of jeans while lying on the floor and sharing a message about how “the secret of life lies in the genetic code.”

“Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to succeeding generations,” Shields said in the clip. “Occasionally, certain conditions produce a structural change in a gene which will bring about the process of evolution. This may occur in one or more of the following ways: first, by selective mating in which a single gene type proves superior in transmitting its genes to future generations. Secondly, by gene drift, in which certain genes may fade away while other genes persist.”

“And finally, by natural selection, which filters out those genes better equipped than others to endure in an environment. This may result in the origin of an entirely new species – which brings us to Calvins and the survival of the fittest,” Shields, now 60, said.

The commercial went viral because she was only 15 years old at the time, and because of the sexual message.

In 2021, Shields responded to the backlash the ad received during an interview with Vogue.

“I didn’t think it was about underwear or sexual in nature,” Shields said at the time. “What was shocking to me was to be berated by ‘Oh, you knew this was happening. This is what you thought. You were thinking these thoughts.’ I was a kid, and where I was, I was naive. I was a very protected, sequestered, young woman in a bubble. I think the assumption was that I was much more savvy than I ever really was.”

Us Weekly has reached out to American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney’s rep for comment but did not immediately hear back.