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Sydney Sweeney Ad Turning Young People Off Jeans, Poll Finds

The controversial ad, featuring the wordplay “good jeans,” has inspired a backlash.

American Eagle’s viral Sydney Sweeney jeans ad is alienating the very shoppers it aimed to win over. A Generation Lab poll of 1,289 college and graduate students conducted Aug. 7–11 found deep partisan and gender divides over the campaign, which has sparked debates on beauty standards, “wokeness,” and race. Sixty-four percent of Democrats called the ad “out of touch,” compared with 39 percent of Republicans, while 38 percent of Republicans found it “authentic” versus just 10 percent of Democrats. The backlash could hurt sales: 42 percent of Democrats said the ad made them less likely to buy American Eagle jeans, along with 16 percent of Republicans and 28 percent of Independents. Women—the ad’s presumed target—were more critical than men. Thirty-nine percent said they’re less likely to shop at the retailer, compared to 21 percent of men. Nearly two-thirds of women (63 percent) said the ad was out of touch, versus 44 percent of men. A smaller share saw something more alarming. Ten percent of respondents—including 10 percent of women and 8 percent of men—said the jeans/genes pun promoted eugenics, the discredited theory of genetic superiority. That view was shared by 13 percent of Democrats, 5 percent of Republicans, and 8 percent of Independents.

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