NEW YORK (AP) – American fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to create a splash with a new ad campaign starring the 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz includes “smart and even provocative language,” and “definitely presses a button,” the company’s chief marketing officer told trade media.
have. The question is whether some of the public reactions will now be autumn Denim Campaign What was produced? American Eagle It is intended.
The title is “Sydney Sweeney is Great Jeans,” and the campaign features race, Western beauty standards and Repulsion I’ve “wakened” American politics and culture. Most of the negative receptions focused on videos using the word “gene” instead of “jeans” when discussing blonde blue-eyed actors Known for the HBO series “Euphoria” and “White Lotus.”
Some critics considered wordplay a nod, intentionally or deliberately, with caution. We believed this could improve the unreliable theory that held humanity through selective breeding for specific traits.
Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Ross Business School, said criticism of American Eagle ads could have been avoided if the ADS presented a model of different races that would create a pun for “genes.”
“You can say this is ignorance, or this is lazy, or this is intentional,” Collins said. “One of the three is not good.”
Other commenters accused Chtractors of reading too much of the campaign’s message.
“I love how the left-wing meltdown on Sydney Sweeney’s ads brought a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes exposed to her ‘good genes’,” former Fox News host Megin Kelly wrote on X on Tuesday.
American Eagle did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press.
The debate continued after Eagle Eyed social media users noticed a co-star from Dunkin’s new summer drink promotion, “The Summer I Tunder Pretty.” Gavin Casarengo He attributes his tan to genetics.
American Eagle Snapshot
Advertising Blitz comes as follows: Teen RetailerLike many merchants, they fight Consumer spending is slower Costs from customs duties will be higher. American Eagle reported its total Sales have declined Compared to the previous year, it was 5% for the quarter from February to April.
The day after Sweeney was announced as the company’s latest celebrity collaborator, American Eagle shares closed more than 4%. Stocks were volatile this week, falling almost 2% on Wednesday.
Like many trendy clothing brands, American Eagle has to differentiate by saying something edgy, according to Alan Adamson, co-founder of Metaforce, marketing consulting.
Adamson shared a lineage with the 1980 Calvin Klein Jeans ads, with 15-year-old Brookshields saying, “Want to know what’s in between me and my Calvin?” Several television networks have refused to broadcast spots due to their suggestive double entenders and shield age.
“It’s the same playbook. It’s a very hot model saying something provocative, filmed in an interesting way,” Adamson said.
Signs, Instagram, Snapchat
Chief Marketing Officer Craig Bromers told industry news website Retail Brew last week that “Sydney is the biggest gain in American Eagle history,” and that the company will promote partnerships in a consistent way.
The campaign features a video of Sweeney wearing slouching jeans in a variety of settings. She will be talking to users on 3D billboards such as Times Square, on Snapchat and Instagram, and appearing in the AI-enabled Tryon feature.
American Eagle also launches a limited edition Sydney Jean to raise awareness of domestic violence and sell revenues go to nonprofit crisis counseling services.
In a news release, the company said “combined with the charm of the girl next to Sweeney and the energy of the main character, the ability to not take herself too seriously, are characteristic of this bold and playful campaign.”
Jeans, genes, and many of their meanings
In one video, Sweeney walks towards her American Eagle sign and says, “Sydney Sweeney has a great gene.” She erases the “gene” and replaces it with “jeans.”
But what critics found most troublesome was in the teaser video where Sweeney said, “The genes are passed on from parents to offspring, and often determine characteristics such as hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
The video is featured on American Eagle’s Facebook page and other social media channels, but is not part of the ad campaign.
It is sometimes used as a compliment to say someone has a good gene, but this phrase also has an ominous meaning. Eugenics has gained popularity America in the early 20th centuryAnd Nazi Germany accepted it to carry out Adolf Hitler’s plan for the Aryan Master Race.
Civil rights activists are paying attention to signs of eugenics that will regain their footing through promotions on the far right “The Great Alternative Theory” A racist ideology that argues a conspiracy to reduce the influence of white people.
Shalini Shankar, a cultural and linguistic anthropologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said there are problems with the “genes” and “jeans” of American Eagle, as it exacerbates the notion of limited beauty.
“American Eagles want to rebrand themselves for a certain kind of white privileged American,” Shankar said.
For Dunkin’s social media videos, Kasarengo’s polished skin appears in the context of the donut chain’s Golden Hour Refresher Drink. “This tan? Genetics. I guessed Golden Summer just by regaining my analysis of colour,” the actor says.
A Dunkin’s spokesman could not be immediately contacted for comment.
Cultural changes in advertising
Many critics compared the American Eagle ads to Pepsi’s misstep in 2017. Model Kendall Jenner has released a TV ad showing that while providing police officers with cans of soda, ostensibly moving away from photography to join the protesters’ crowd.
Viewers chuckled the spot because it seemed to show the protests of black police murder as trivial things. Pepsi I apologized and drew an ad.
The demonstrations that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer have prompted many US companies to advertise to better reflect consumers of all races.
Some marketers say they’ve observed another change since President Donald Trump took office and moved. Repeal all federal DEI programs and policies.
Jazmin Burrell, founder of brand consulting agency Lizzie Dela Creative Strategy, said she found herself shopping with her cousin and more ads and signs that featured a white model prominently.
“We can see diversity actually return to a world that isn’t the normative expectation of advertising,” Burrell said.
American Eagle’s past and future
American Eagle has been praised for its diverse marketing in the past, including creating Denim Hijab in 2017 and offering a wide range of sizes of Erie lingerie brands. A year ago, the company released a limited edition denim collection with tennis star CocoGough.
Marketing experts should be careful about “good jeans.” Suitable for business.
“They thought maybe this would be their moment,” says Myles Worthington, founder and CEO of marketing and creative agency Worthi. “But this is doing the opposite and distorts their brand deeply.”
Other experts say buzz is good, even if it’s not uniformly positive.
“If you follow all the rules, you’ll make many people happy, but you’ll fail,” Adamson said. “The rocket will not take off.”
