Sydney Sweeney / American Eagle Controversy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't think there's a serious judgment lapse with an ad campaign extolling the "great genes" of a blonde haired blue eyed white woman and literally no one else, I'm not sure what to tell you. There are political figures sieg heiling on stage at political conventions, now is not the time to pretend we've never heard of Nazis.

Sure if they had done it about different women or a lot of random beautiful women it would read differently. Because there wouldn't be a history of violent eugenics behind the message.

Nazis or no nazis, most people prefer blonde hair and blue eyes.

Wow, if this isn't a rather ethno-centric view of the world that doesn't stand if you truly want diversity and inclusion.

But even at a most primal attraction level, it's just not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she really a good actress? I figured she was popular for other reasons.

2 reasons, to be precise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she really a good actress? I figured she was popular for other reasons.

2 reasons, to be precise.

yup, that's what my DH says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a punny ad with a sexy blond woman.

She’s their spokesperson, so that’s why it’s about her?

So if it was a black woman it would be fine?

If Halle Berry was in the ad, anyone who criticizes it would be racist.

Halle Berry has had a long and successful career in Hollywood. If she was praised as "having great genes" I would be more likely to agree, compared to a rather mediocre young actress who hasn't yet proven herself as a success in her field.

[Anonymous]

I'm not white and this ad definitely rubs me the wrong way.

I was a teen in the late 90s/early 2000s at a time when only a specific look was considered marketable, and if you weren't white, it wasn't accessible to you. Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera, etc etc. The ideal was white, skinny, and blonde, and that kind of marketing basically says, your beauty is not of value if you're not white.

I'm so glad to see that we've progressed since this time. Fenty beauty (thanks Rihanna) meant that good cosmetic products also included more shades of skin tone. More brands making more sizes of clothing, including models of all sizes and abilities, expanding what it meant to be valued for looks in this society.

Now that my daughter is coming into her teenage years, I'm sad to see this mono culture of beauty coming back. I'd hate to see her growing up with this kind of media influencing her self-esteem when we had just made a bit of progress a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

The eugenics piece aside, it just is a strange ad campaign. The American Eagle market is teenagers and young adult women. Yes they sell men’s clothes also, but their two other brands Offline and Aerie are for women. Go watch all of the clips on AEs YouTube. In some of the shots the Jeans don’t even seem to fit her and are too big, in another shot they are scraping the ground. One clip is her unzipping her too large jeans and rolling them up and saying “I bet you want to try on these jeans”. The viral “Genes” clip has her with no top on being covered by a Jean jacket sultry whispering into the camera. Most ad campaigns she does is to Market things to men, recently she marketed soap that supposedly had her bath water in it. For those who aren’t familiar with her, a lot of her popularity comes from that fact that she has a large chest and appears without clothes on in a lot of her films. She is much more popular with men than women. The AE ads simply don’t feel like they are marketed to young women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The eugenics piece aside, it just is a strange ad campaign. The American Eagle market is teenagers and young adult women. Yes they sell men’s clothes also, but their two other brands Offline and Aerie are for women. Go watch all of the clips on AEs YouTube. In some of the shots the Jeans don’t even seem to fit her and are too big, in another shot they are scraping the ground. One clip is her unzipping her too large jeans and rolling them up and saying “I bet you want to try on these jeans”. The viral “Genes” clip has her with no top on being covered by a Jean jacket sultry whispering into the camera. Most ad campaigns she does is to Market things to men, recently she marketed soap that supposedly had her bath water in it. For those who aren’t familiar with her, a lot of her popularity comes from that fact that she has a large chest and appears without clothes on in a lot of her films. She is much more popular with men than women. The AE ads simply don’t feel like they are marketed to young women.

Perhaps they’re being marketed to young women who want to appeal to the men that these ads appeal to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The eugenics piece aside, it just is a strange ad campaign. The American Eagle market is teenagers and young adult women. Yes they sell men’s clothes also, but their two other brands Offline and Aerie are for women. Go watch all of the clips on AEs YouTube. In some of the shots the Jeans don’t even seem to fit her and are too big, in another shot they are scraping the ground. One clip is her unzipping her too large jeans and rolling them up and saying “I bet you want to try on these jeans”. The viral “Genes” clip has her with no top on being covered by a Jean jacket sultry whispering into the camera. Most ad campaigns she does is to Market things to men, recently she marketed soap that supposedly had her bath water in it. For those who aren’t familiar with her, a lot of her popularity comes from that fact that she has a large chest and appears without clothes on in a lot of her films. She is much more popular with men than women. The AE ads simply don’t feel like they are marketed to young women.

Perhaps they’re being marketed to young women who want to appeal to the men that these ads appeal to?

That is the only thing I can think of. American Eagle isn’t a sexy brand. It’s where you go by school clothes for a teenager. Even their lingerie brand Aerie isn’t super sexy, it’s a lot of everyday comfortable pieces and lounge wear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It feels like a pushback to the body positivity/body inclusivity movement we've been on. It feels like a throwback to the toxic hyper-sexualization of one type of beauty ideal of the 90s/early 2000s.

If you really wanted to extoll someone with "great genes," putting some GOAT athletes in the campaign would be more fitting.

That's the Golden Age!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a punny ad with a sexy blond woman.

She’s their spokesperson, so that’s why it’s about her?

So if it was a black woman it would be fine?

If Halle Berry was in the ad, anyone who criticizes it would be racist.

Halle Berry has had a long and successful career in Hollywood. If she was praised as "having great genes" I would be more likely to agree, compared to a rather mediocre young actress who hasn't yet proven herself as a success in her field.

Are we talking about genes or achievements?

[Anonymous]

I agree she's an odd choice of spokesperson for this brand. I remember a few years ago AE's swimsuit line made headlines for using "real" non-airbrushed models, with cellulite, imperfect bikini lines, etc. who looked like regular gals you'd see on any beach. SS's look and appeal is... not that.

[Anonymous]

So I don't think they intentionally meant to glorify blonde hair and blue eyes specifically, and just wanted to make the point that Sydney has a great body. But at the same time, I can't imagine a company ever doing a "good genes" campaign with a Black or Asian woman who had a nice rack. I don't think that means they're racist, but there is something to the idea that the tagline of "good genes" felt compatible with a blonde haired, blue eyed woman. I'm not articulating myself well, and I hope someone smarter than me can expound on what I'm getting at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This ad is a thermometer. People are scared and stressed out. This is why the ad is so triggering.

I agree, I think it's understandable why people are frazzled and I don't like that they're being made fun of for being "oversensitive woke people."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a punny ad with a sexy blond woman.

She’s their spokesperson, so that’s why it’s about her?

So if it was a black woman it would be fine?

If Halle Berry was in the ad, anyone who criticizes it would be racist.

They would never have a Halle Berry in an ad like this.

[Anonymous]

This is a great example of the internet running away with something that is a big ole nothing burger.