A controversial American Eagle jeans campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney drew widespread social media attention —but it appears to have done little to boost jeans sales.
Executives said Thursday that the company’s women’s bottoms category declined two percent year-over-year in first-quarter sales.
“We are not satisfied with where the business performed this quarter, especially in women’s,” Aerie and American Eagle President and Executive Creative Director Jen Foyle said on a call, according to Retail Dive.
“We know what needs to be corrected, and the teams are aligned and activated to return AE to growth.”
That is despite the company’s controversial marketing efforts.
In July, Sweeney appeared in an American Eagle denim campaign. The ad’s tagline, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”—a play on the phrase “great genes”—sparked outrage online, as the blond-haired, blue-eyed actress told viewers in one commercial that “genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color.
My jeans are blue,” as a voiceover closed, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
The campaign, which referenced the iconic Calvin Klein denim advertisements featuring Brooke Shields, drew sharp criticism online.
Critics argued that, when combined with Sweeney’s blond hair and blue eyes, the imagery carried unsettling undertones tied to white supremacist themes.
It also faced accusations of promoting eugenics, with some social media users even comparing its messaging to “Nazi propaganda.”
Sweeney responded to the backlash in a December interview with People, saying, “I’m against hate and divisiveness.”
“In the past, my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press, but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So, I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us,” she added.
And yet, it seems that for all the attention the ad generated, it didn’t actually boost sales.
To address the problem, the brand said it is updating its women’s product line and rolling out new styles ahead of the important back-to-school shopping period.
