Fans Are Confused Over Sydney Sweeney's New American Eagle Ads

The ads for blue jeans use a double entendre that's making many fans think it's promoting white supremacy.

Sydney Sweeney’s new ads for clothing retailer American Eagle, which play off the words “genes” and “jeans,” have left some social media users convinced it’s promoting white supremacy.

In one ad, the camera pans up Sweeney’s legs as she’s lying down and zipping up her jeans. She says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.” The camera reaches her face by the time she says, “My jeans are blue.” The narrator then says the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”

Social media users expressed their discomfort with the ads, including TikTok user @hopeyoufindyourdad, who pointed out the ad’s double entendre in a post with more than 790,000 views.

“They could have chosen a number of angles to go about this campaign, but saying that about a blonde-hair, blue-eyed woman right now who’s dressed all like yeehaw America — that says a lot,” the user said, adding, “It’s pretty obviously promoting European Centrism.”

The Instagram account Style Analytics called the ad “a nod to eugenics, aligning the brand with the growing conservative/right-wing/white supremacy movement” in a post.