Sydney Sweeney’s new campaign draws fire for racial undertones

Love this for her. More, more, again, again!

There is a thread about her campaign that you’ve posted on more than once. You’re weird jobless games are getting old

Sorry r2 this is my first post.

We’re just looking for things to squabble about.

[quote]a phrase historically used to celebrate whiteness, thinness and attractiveness.

She’s really not thin.

R5 good.

R3 that must mean you made yet another account.

Dumb controversy. It’s a clever line. Get over it. And she does have great genes as they relate to the large flour sacks hanging from her chest.

I'm so tired of this thirsty girl. Oooh, she was saved from Blake Lively by Nicole and Reese and whom-ever-else.

Beautiful? Her eyes are wonky, and she’s best known for her breasts. It’s funny how her publicists keep trying on DL to make her happen, there’s a new post every couple of weeks.

I hate her for many things (her Trump party, her face, her "acting") but this is just stupid.

Also, she's a wall-eyed whore.

Yup. Now he’s replying to himself again. Another account to go down I guess

r9 They VOW to never give up!

Some people have way too much time on their hands.

I can’t stand her. I think the cunt she played in the White Lotus is her. She’s a cunt, but not a funny cunt, just a cunt.

I don't think it's such an overreaction. It really does feel like a weird eugenics undertone. MAGAs are already praising this as the "end of woke advertising", so clearly they're getting some kind of message and I don't think it's just boobs.

I agree with r15. When the current administration is trying to limit American citizenship to what they view as traditional white Americans (similar to the Nazis) and anti-immigrant rhetoric is ramping up, this campaign is very tone deaf. Check “blood and soil”.

Would it be racist if she was black?

This is so fucking stupid.

Some of you have too much time on your hands

R17 I don't think they would have ever imagined this campaign if she wasn't aryan looking

Agreed, the ad campaign is dumb, but making a big deal about the campaign is also a waste of time unless you spend all day on TikTok.

This is a tempest in a teapot - genes/jeans - that's been around forever. But because it's a white blonde woman saying it people are saying it's Nazi?

Jeesh - I have to wonder if this controversy is PR-made by American Eagle in order to get more press for the brand.

It feels like it. An artificial controversy to grab even more headlines. Other brands have done the same, most notably Calvin Klein.

This may all be manufactured. That's my take on it.

Saying someone has good genes is just a way of saying they’re attractive. It’s not a master race meme for fuck’s sake.

This is exhausting neo-progressive performative outrage as usual. It’s almost always millennial or gen Z white girls carrying on like this. They’re never happier than when they can be calling something out as “problematic,” in order to then lecture you about your inferior social consciousness.

At its root it’s purely self-interested. This is how they define themselves and get attention on social media. It’s really preening.

And it’s a total fucking GIFT to the rise of neo-fascism in America. The constant, shrill hectoring that you’re doing it WRONG, thinking WRONG, you’re a bad person unless you think and act in exactly such-and-such a way, is insufferable. Whenever they take to social media to tell you you’re a racist asshole for having the nerve to celebrate Thanksgiving, I think to myself, “we just lost some more voters to Trump.”

R22 - I think American Eagle planned this for promotion. I think their fingers are behind it. Seriously.

Nothing like controversy to promote a product. Get people talking about American Eagle again.

It's such an over-the-top reaction that it feels manufactured and promoted - and of course some stupid MFs pick it up and run with it because someone else said it.

This is so 2021, with plenty of 2025 exhaustion for this type of fake outrage.

Oh I agree r23. They blew the dog whistle. They knew the callout queens would take the bait and make this go viral.

Isnt there racism in the idea that "great genes" are exclusive to white people? Because that's what the haters sound like.

Great genes are also about great bone structure, eyes (not color, but if they're attractive) smile, figure.

As usual the biggest racists are the ones calling RACISM.

R25 - Yep - PR and Publicists have lists of influencers and people who engage/post a lot.

All you have to do is create a 'Have YOU SEEN THIS?' with a link to the video and some question - are they saying white genes are better? (Trying to spark a conversation - not saying anything directly and allowing people to blow it up).

Then all these social media princesses will post because outrage=views and likes.

Someone in a PR or publicist's office is cracking open a bottle of champagne right now. American Eagle - a brand so fricking dead - has people talking about it again - FOR FREE.

People are online all day trying to get mad.

When I was a teenager the uglies worked in the back room.

[Quote] Isnt there racism in the idea that "great genes" are exclusive to white people?

The commercial doesn’t say that, for fucks sake.

Everyone is so keen to be outraged they read things in that aren’t there.

I think that's a stretch. Since she's considered a hot girl in pop culture, I just assumed that "she has great jeans/genes" - i.e., she's hot - Sweeney specifically.

Yes, you COULD expand that to be representative white people, but I'm really thinking that's what they're doing. I wonder if they'll try to "fix" what isn't broken and add other hot women of different races to the campaign. How much traction is this getting?

R30 sweety I know thats not what it's saying, I was saying that it's the people that tend to associate having good genes with being white and conflating the two while yelling "RACISM" are the actual racists.

That's why I made the case that skin color/eye color/hair color is only part of one's genes and they arent what makes one good looking.

She's always looked dumb to me but what do I know.

Again, if you see this ad and think "RACISM" its because you are associating light eyes/hair/eyes with having good genes and think everyone else does to. Which makes you racist.

It's funny when she's like "these jeans make my ass look great" and then spins to show her flat butt. Then she's walking to the car and the jeans frame her backside like a fridge.

"Wear these jeans if you want to look more masculine!" Ought to be the voice over.

It's really asinine that people get offended SO easily these days over just the smallest shit.

People seem to be LOOKING for reasons to be upset, and what they REALLY need to do is find a hobby and GET A FUCKING LIFE.

If you really want to be outraged about something, be outraged about genuine ISSUES and maybe spend more time working on ways to resolve those issues.

What a bunch of bullshit.

[quote] “great genes,” a phrase historically used to celebrate whiteness, thinness and attractiveness.

I just don’t think this is true. At all. Whiteness? No, lots of people are white. Even if you are a Nazi who values whiteness above other races, just being white doesn’t qualify you are having great genes. Thinness? Not historically. It hasn’t been rare until the last few decades. Attractiveness? Not general attractiveness and especially not Sweeney’s slightly white trashy-looking, likely to fade fast hotness. Maybe you’d say great genes if it was a family where all the kids were good-looking. Or if you were talking about a supermodel type, someone with some unsual and desirable traits that are likely to persist over generations. Like thick hair, long legs, teeth that are white and straight. Maybe great breasts, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase applied that way.

I’ve heard it applied to people who age well and families where all the kids are good looking or talented and people who are exceptional looking, not young hot chicks.

If it was Dolph Lundgren it would seem sort of Nazi-ish, even though he probably does have great genes. But Sweeney isn’t even a real blonde. I’m just not getting Nazi at all.

They’re talking about her TITS not her race. People are so stupid.

R38 IKR.

There are absolutely zero racist undertones or overtones in the ad.

Its just a play on words about how hot she is.

Fake outrage designed to have people associate liberals and all things woke with insanity and idiocy

Linguist John McWhorter wrote about it.

Thanks for posting that, R41. That’s interesting. Seems like he’s saying that the phrase has racist origins. I never got that impression hearing it used, but he’s the linguist. Thinking about it, it makes sense that it might have classist origins (good breeding) and it’s a stone’s throw from there.

I don’t think it a a phrase I would have used anyway, but good to know it might be viewed that way.

The people who are suggesting that this may have aryan undertones are far less outraged than you queens. You should all start anti-woke MAGA youtube channels. They’re saying the same things. There’s ten MAGAs saying OMG SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU HYSTERICAL FUCKING IDIOTS for every one person suggesting that this is a little weird.

Oops, the post at r42 was also r37, not r40

At this point, I think it’s actually a smart marketing strategy. As R22 said, the kind of radical liberal outrage that dominated the 2010s doesn’t hold the same power in the post-Trump era. “Anti-wokeness” is starting to sell—and you can feel it creeping into mainstream advertising again.

I don’t find the ad offensive. I grew up in the 2000s, when anti-PC humor was everywhere. By the 2010s, the pendulum swung hard in the other direction—and for good reason. It needed to. But now it feels like we’re finally heading toward some kind of cultural balance.

Country music, Sydney Sweeney, American Eagle—brands are starting to realize there’s a conservative or middle-America audience they’ve been ignoring. And as a liberal, I think true liberalism means acknowledging all sides, not just catering to one loud segment.

Honestly, I’m tired of performative marketing where “diversity” means fat Black women or flamboyant gay men with long nails—only to still center white beauty standards while using “inclusive” people as tokens. That kind of casting is more offensive to me than this ad, because it’s not honest. It’s just pandering dressed up as progress.

I work for a beauty distributor, so I see this up close all the time.

Take OPI, for example—a major nail polish brand. In their marketing collections, they’ll usually feature a conventionally pretty white woman, then suddenly throw in a fat Black or Latina woman, and a flamboyantly gay Black or Asian man. The attempt at diversity feels so forced—and honestly, it completely misses the mark.

Let’s be real: people of color and LGBTQ+ communities often have higher beauty standards than white consumers. They’re probably snickering or feeling offended by the way they’re being represented. These companies aren’t empowering anyone—they’re just putting out clumsy, pandering versions of “inclusivity” that don’t reflect how those communities actually see themselves.

That’s why I’ve always felt “woke” marketing needs to go. It’s phony. It’s lazy. And worst of all, it’s not actually catering to anyone—it’s just checking boxes and hoping for applause.

Great post r46

These companies are there to sell stuff. Whether they have "diverse" advertising or "anti-woke", they'll promote the image that makes them the most money. Whatever "values" they try to convince you they have are usually dependent on what's fashionable. It's like how they were all promoting Pride Month and incorporating it into their brand until there was a perceived backlash and suddenly they drop any mention of it, despite it apparently being an important issue to them previously.

R42...If that's your takeaway from McWhorter's editorial you completely missed the mark, choosing to hear you wanted to instead of what he actually said. He completely debunked & dismissed the hysteria that's been stirred by select people. Not only that, he also displayed reasons not to encourage this type of overreach. You should read the piece again with more of an open mind.

When people say they are long-lived or they retain their looks in old age because of “good genes” they are actually endorsing Hitler. There can be no other interpretation.

R41 lol great title

R49, He said it was a clumsy turn of phrase, as opposed to anything overtly racist. My interpretation is that while he doesn’t think it’s a big deal, questioning whether there are racist undermines is not completely crazy. He certainly didn’t “completely debunk” anything.

I’m clearing NOT choosing to hear what I want to hear because my interpretation of the article contradicts my assertion at R37 that there are no racial implications whatsoever.

[quote]These companies are there to sell stuff. Whether they have "diverse" advertising or "anti-woke", they'll promote the image that makes them the most money. Whatever "values" they try to convince you they have are usually dependent on what's fashionable.

Exactly. It's all about money and profit. Many people think businesses should be charities instead.

It's a dog whistle. I guess congrats on not being exposed to a lifetime of shitty racists to be able to recognize it

It’s actually kind of funny that you would accuse someone who is willing to modify their opinion when presented with a more nuanced interpretation by someone with expertise as lacking an open mind.

whatever you think of this ad and see in this ad, Democrats need to tone down the woke rhetoric to win elections. We need to stop arguing about the messaging of pop culture and talk about the things that will get us elected. We need to assert a narrative SIMPLE solutions to complex problems, and PIVOT immediately to Trumps is a pedo,and Vance is a weirdo and a pedo enabler.

If you really love democracy and care about the real issues in this country avoid engaging in woke thirst traps, Pivot to Pedos and their enablers, and PROMISE quick and SIMPLE solutions to complex and even unsolvable problems even if you don't think they will work.

This is how they won. Stop thinking every voters think. Most voters just react.

These people need a life. It's a good ad.

R52...I didnt say he debunked the meaning of the phrases, but the hysteria. McWorter's last paragraph in the article:

"Language changes; culture changes; labels are reassigned. And a blond, blue-eyed actress talking about jeans — or even genes — is just a pun, not a secret salute to white supremacy."

you know who REALLY picked up on the racist parts? White supremacists. every single one of them are out there rallying about this idiocy

I love McWhorter and usually agree with him but this isn’t about Sweeney’s race or even her facial features - she isn’t especially pretty.

Every straight man seeing that ad knows it’s referring with a big wink to her enormous natural rack. They’re not thinking beyond that.

What's ironic about the whole "eugenics" and "master race" shit is that Sydney Sweeney looks like poor white trash whose parents are cousins. She's no Charlize Theron.

MAGAts are celebrating it, because the Left overreacting to it.

Tons of fashion labels have utilised white supremacy “whoops!” advertising to push their sweatshop crap, it’s nothing new

Saying "He/She has good genes" does not have racist origins, dear lord.

It's finally become racist to suggest a white person can have positive attributes.

Oh just wait r65. Soon, displaying the lovely original Pride flag instead of the the ugly-ass GLBTTS°+ISXYZ flag will be equivalent to flying the Confederate flag and a hate crime.

Strange times we live in.

Dumbest controversy evah!

Because a white woman have good jeans is racist.

Bluesky is in meltdown mode over this.

This is why Trump is in the White House. People are sick of hearing this shit and it’s all white people screaming it.

I watched someone berated for using the phrase blind as a bat because there are real blind people out there.

[quote] I watched someone berated for using the phrase blind as a bat because there are real blind people out there.

And let's not offend bats either!

Or people that are batty.

Trump is burning down the country, but a TV commercial is what gets everyone fired up. Some people need hobbies.

The vocal fry and stupidity are at least as objectionable. Genes often determine hair and eye color?

The bitch has great genes as far as society is concerned. She could be the same complexion as Ashanti, big chest, with flowing locks and the headline still works. She may not be drop dead beautiful, but she has a nice face and a great rack. Many straight guys would say she has DSL too.

Not every fucking thing is about race. Well a lot of shit is, but not this.

Autistic academics keep coming up with the most ridiculous takes on shit. One site just published an 8-page essay about how dangerous this ad it.

Not only that she is fucking promoting jeans. The double entendre is perfect. The shit is annoying. That’s a brilliant campaign slogan. And it just works.

I know absolutely nothing about Doja Cat but this is fucking funny.

😂 Doja Cat is a whole hot mess. Genes don’t “often” determine hair color. They ALWAYS do.

You can't deny the conservatives are thrilled about this "anti-woke" heroine

R81 She is not an anti woke heroine. She did a fucking ad for a check. It’s not offensive and it works.

Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry before her—did and continue to do ads for fucking checks.

Academics make noise about this yet there is little discussion how the biggest black woman on the planet, is walking round with fake contact lenses, bleached eyebrows, and blonde hair of a prototype that could never grow from her mafuckin scalp. And she still a beautiful bitch, but facts are facts.

We're living in the age of diagnosing everything. We can't just live with the message, we have to scrutinize it to death with the sole purpose of finding fault with it, usually some idiotic anti-woke condition that makes it suitable for immediate cancelation.

Sydney is just a culture war pawn at this point.

The play on jeans and genes has been around since jeans came into existence.

I'm sure resentment is at least part of the backlash. I have resentment toward people who have superior genes. It's not surprising to see people unhappy to be reminded that some people through no effort of their own have been blessed with better genes than their own. All the other garbage about eugenics and Nazi ideology is to obfuscate the resentment.

R65, as if promoting white beauty is even necessary. It has been THe beauty standard in America for it’s entire existence.

R88 Not just America.

It’s so ridiculous anyone is offended. I was honestly trying to imagine how it was racist for a good two minutes. I just assumed it was referring to her sex symbol status and good looks. People really are trying to be outraged. It must be exhausting to be so outraged all the time

And the hot new thing of the moment is always doing jeans ads

The double denim is the most offensive thing about the ad

It’s “eugenicistic” to acknowledge that good looking people are more often than not begotten of good looking parents?

The funniest part about all of this is Sydney isn’t even a natural blonde.

I do like Sydney. I don’t love her or follow but as a Gen Z actress she has taken on some really wonderful hard hitting roles. Her roles in “The Handmaiden’s Tale”, “White Lotus”, and “Euphoria” were wonderful and her calculating diverse movie roles with “Anyone But You”, “Immaculate”, and the upcoming “Christy” and “The Housemaid” shows that she wants to be a real actress and movie star.

She’s calculating and shes taking the Madonna route where she generates publicity through her work and not directly her personal life in this age of social media and influencing.

This ad just reminds me of Madonna explaining “Material Girl”. It’s supposed to be ironic and satirical. Sydney intentionally sounded like a “dumb blonde” in the advertisement.

So I just appreciate all of it. As cliche as it is to say this, it’s art.

“You don’t have to like it, it’s not the point darling!”

And women hate her right now because she is the new pin-up girl queen for men, especially straight white men and straight white men are allowed to have nothing today.

And she plays it up and adds fuel to the fire.

That’s kind of why I find it funny. I have no skin in this game as someone who is gay.

So I root for her. Get it while you got it.

The real cognitive dissonance for me is that most of these dumb, fat nonbinary (and almost all white) cunts screaming "This is ARyAn NaZi pRoPaGaNDA!!!" are the same crowd as the ones taking to the streets and chanting "From the river to the sea!"

R96 Sorry I meant to say straight white men are NOT allowed to have anything today.

And it’s true - over the last 10 years, straight white men have been ignored as mainstream consumers. It’s one of the reasons why Hollywood has collapsed. Superhero movies, action movies have all been pushed to gays and women,

So let guys have Sydney lol.

R97 And now they’re calling her a slut.

It’s all performative outrage.

These same liberals cheer on Lizzo twerking on the counter at McDonald’s and clapping her ass cheeks for chicken nuggets. They praise Black and Latina women rapping about sucking dick and getting fucked, or Beyoncé doing “Black Girl Magic” in Black Panther uniforms—and they love it.

But suddenly, when a pretty white woman does anything remotely sexy, they get all puritanical. Lady Gaga, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter get a pass because men don’t find them threatening and gay fans prop them up. But Sydney? She does less than all of them, but because she actually attracts men, she’s treated like Hester Prynne.

It’s blatant bias, and honestly, it exposes the double standard.

I didn't expect DL to have the same reaction to this as 4chan. Honestly, I think it's crazy if you can't at least understand why somebody would see that subtext.

The ad was designed to be controversial and to go viral. Everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing, including Sweeney.

They will say it was unintentional to gaslight anyone with common sense. Of course, they’re full of shit.

Sweeney and her family are MAGA trash.

She's a Nazi promoting white supremacist

The White House has posted in support of the campaign. If that ain't a ringing endorsement...

The left or the woke crowd gets it wrong. Just when Trump is getting dinged they get on the wrong side of the culture wars again. It’s hopeless.

Yeah put it this way. This will be the first time in a long time a company and actress will not issue a public apology over outrage, which is a HUGE deal today.

Dumb Woke assholes.

Clearly they took no notice of the 2024 elections, orr the fact that thisvis one of the most successful ad campaigns ever.

No one cares what these dumb fucking Woke Nazis think any more.

NO ONE!

THIS CONTROVERSY IS INSANE.

I have only ever said or thought someone has "great genes" upon seeing a picture of their cute parents.

I've meant it as an endearing compliment: "You're attractive and your parents were too."

Young people really need to get a life, and failing that, some perspective — I beg for this.

I'm not American, so maybe that's why I'm confused, but are the people emphasising the race card saying it would be impossible for Beyonce or Naomi Campbell (in her heyday) to be in an ad with that tag line?

Just when you thought progressives couldn’t get any crazier they somehow manage to outdo themselves. The articles about this telling us that this is Nazi speak and dangerous is incredible. Even people on the Left are telling them to shut the fuck up.

Right wing Australian provocateur Rita Panahi shares her thoughts…. 🙄

No one caees what that ugly PAKI thinks, R110.

She's a self-loathing pile of dog shit.

Wishes she were white, but never will be.

But American Eagle are shit jeans

Oleg Cassini and potatoe salad are staples in any young woman’s life. At least in my day.

It’s so fucking sad that DL is still using “woke” or “leftist” as a derogatory is this political climate.

The woke racists really fell for this one! They were lured out like roaches into the daylight. Not a surprise because all they know is ideology, and lack intelligence and critical thinking ability.

It ain't 1950 anymore. Beautiful people of all races and ethnicities populate ads, TV shows, movies and magazines covers now a days. And, yes, it is about good genes, of which the left and the woke are profoundly bereft.

American Eagle should to do the campaign with beautiful people of different races and use the same tagline. Will people lose their shit then?

R116, that's an excellent idea.

What other word but woke can be used in this story? I can’t think of another word that works. By woke I mean the people who thought LatinX would be a great word to replace Latino. Those asswipes.

Women are profoundly threatened by and jealous of beautiful women. It's biological.

”Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,” she says directly to the camera: “My jeans are blue.”

Anyone who even thinks the word “aryan” or “eugenics” after watching this OBVIOUSLY needs to be institutionalized for feeblemindedness and insanity!

R115, please do tell us where good genes are found these days since they’re not found in the left and woke. Surely you don’t mean the right with their MAGA-faced men and women with inbred genes.

Their stock is back down now and down for the year overall.

What’s funny, Stephen Miller, is you’re the very opposite of good genes.

R111 exemplifies so many of the self-righteous virtue signaling hypocrites here at DL. They're so eager to point out the slightest whiff of bigotry, racism, (fill in the blank) phobia, but can't pass up a chance to spill their own justified prejudices all the place. Calling Panahi an "ugly PAKI" just makes you look like the petty, narrow minded moron you are. If you were as bright as you've perpetrated to be you would have at least verified your statement...Rita Panahi is actually Iranian.

I can’t stand her, but this “controversy” is ridiculous. The average person doesn’t give two shits about her ad…and the Left making a big deal out of this just feeds the “woke anti-white agenda” narrative.

It amazes me how so many people deny obvious facts about human nature, instincts and evolution. Beauty and a healthy body (and wealth) scream GOOD GENES to our primal brains.

[quote] Women are profoundly threatened by and jealous of beautiful women. It's biological.

This x 100!

I think you just zoomed in on the problem.

Particularly women of color, who are threatened by an attractive, young blonde with big boobs.

Sydney is probably the most threatenting to them, out of all women.

She isn’t beautiful. She has big boobs, and that’s it.

[quote] She isn’t beautiful. She has big boobs, and that’s it.

I think most straight guys would much rather fuck a girl with a pretty face and big tits, rather than a skinny, tall supermodel with a flat chest.

What you don't know about straight guys, is everything.

That's why this ad is so popular right now.

Straight guys of all races, go crazy for a girl like Sydney.

She's who they fantasize about, when they jerk off.

R129, that's true. Most men go for shorter women. It's rare to see a guy dating or married to a taller woman.

The are some stupid people on the right (led by Trump) who believe that white people are genetically superior which is nonsense and offensive. In response, stupid people on the left have decided that any reference to genetics is a racist dog whistle.

I’m not playing either game.

EW: WH communications director and noted fashion plate Steven Cheung took to social media on Tuesday to defend Sweeney's new campaign for the clothing brand American Eagle and slam liberals' reaction to its ads.

"Cancel culture run amok," Cheung wrote, "This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They're tired of this bullshit."

There are a lot of white people with defective or inferior genes. White people who think all white people are superior are probably themselves defective. You need to look at people individually to determine which specific people are superior.

[quote] Sydney is just a culture war pawn at this point.

The irony is that I think Sydney is pretty liberal, and would be on the left side of this argument.

That's how absurd these kinds of criticisms are.

Never mind that she's on your side, right? Just attack her for being... pretty and white.

She’s a MAGA Republican.

There is literally zero evidence that Sydney is MAGA. Just because she has family members who are doesn’t make her guilty by association. There are plenty of white girls from conservative and Republican families who don’t have the same views as their parents. This kind witch hunt mentality is ridiculous.

[quote] It’s so fucking sad that DL is still using “woke” or “leftist” as a derogatory is this political climate.

Spoken like a true out-of-touch progressive.

The fact that we’re even having this stupid conversation illustrates why people are no longer voting liberal. The week after Democrats were obliterated by Trump their first meeting was about trans outreach.