In her recent partnership with the popular clothing brand American Eagle, Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney is purportedly flaunting both her great “jeans” and “genes.”
In a series of uncomfortable ads, the audience sees a provocatively dressed Sweeney correcting a billboard from “Sydney Sweeney has great genes” to “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
The actress shows off her denim-clad figure while commenting, “My body’s composition is determined by my genes.” As the camera moves downward, Sweeney instructs the audience to keep their eyes “up here,” and away from the purposefully exposed parts of her body. In this commercial, the advertised “great jeans” are never even shown – only Sweeney’s face, chest and midriff.
Another ad features Sweeney seductively zipping her jeans while saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” This is followed by a gaze into the camera as a male voice states, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
While this American Eagle campaign was originally designed to raise funds for Crisis Text Line, Sweeney’s ads have sparked numerous online discussions. The media has been in an uproar over Sweeney’s supposed “eugenics promotion” and “Nazi propaganda.”
Not Nazis — Just Neanderthals
However, we can’t forget these over-sexualized ads follow Sweeney’s equally uncomfortable collaboration with the men’s soap company Dr. Squatch.
In 2024, Sweeney starred in a suggestive commercial advertising the brand’s line of natural body wash. She appeared again several months later (this time in a bathtub), promoting a product of her own: “Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss” – a limited-edition men’s bar soap supposedly made with drops of the actress’s bathwater.
As a 22-year-old woman, I am disgusted both by Sweeney’s incredibly flawed representation of femininity and the recent outrage over the American Eagle commercials.
The media has been too distracted by alleged “Nazi correlations” to recognize the real issue: by using her sexuality as a selling point, Sweeney encourages the false idea that women’s bodies are objectifiable – a product to be consumed rather than a person to be loved.
This terrible lie has permeated our culture, and the effects are devastating. The purposefully sexualized marketing of a woman’s appearance discourages men from looking beyond the physical and causes countless women to spend their lives believing they are ugly or unworthy.
A Shallow, Sex-Crazed Culture
As a college student, I see these warped ideas play out every day – in the hookup culture on my campus, by watching close friends settle for disrespectful relationships, in overhearing my male peers make crude comments about women, and by listening to young girls constantly asking, “What’s wrong with me?” or, “Why am I not good enough?”
Because these lies have infiltrated our society, Sweeney’s hyper-sexualized commercials are both disgraceful and degrading to the entire female population.
It deeply saddens me that our sex-saturated culture not only builds brands on bodies, but dangerously idolizes personal appearance. While recognizing natural beauty is a good thing, the media seemingly worships the “perfect” genes of celebrities like Sweeney.
This form of marketing is especially dangerous for the upcoming generation: The hyper-sexualization of both men and women has contributed to spiking rates of pornography consumption, eating disorders, suicides, depression, and anxiety. Young people’s minds are being poisoned by such messages plastered on every corner.
Failed to Mention That …
Additionally, American Eagle’s advertisements mention nothing of the brand’s support for those facing domestic violence, the entire reason for the campaign. The only nod to it is the fact that Sweeney’s jeans feature a butterfly on the back pocket, which has become a symbol for those who have escaped domestic violence. American Eagle’s website states that 100% of the profits from Sweeney’s jeans will be donated to Crisis Text Line – a nonprofit hotline providing 24/7 help for people experiencing a mental health emergency, including in cases of domestic violence.
Instead of promoting this worthy cause, American Eagle chose to capitalize on Sweeney’s “great genes” rather than the true purpose of the campaign. The butterfly on the jeans isn’t even shown, despite several provocative shots of Sweeney’s backside.
By using her body as a selling point, Sweeney pushes the idea that “great genes” are the sum of a person’s value – a lie that American Eagle is wrongly feeding to young men and women across the country. As a society, we must counter these harmful ideas by promoting women and brands who are making a real difference, no matter their genes (or jeans, for that matter).
Although Sydney Sweeney advertises various products, she also promotes a disgraceful and twisted version of womanhood – one the media refuses to challenge.
Meredith Godwin serves as a news and policy writer for the Daily Citizen.
