What was initially going to be an ingenious word game between “jeans” (jeans) and “genes” (genes), has become a brand and reputation crisis for the American Eagle fashion firm. The company’s new campaign, to promote the autumn collection, is a new sample of the need to understand the social context and the way in which the audience can interpret the messages in an increasingly complex context.
On July 23, American Eagle launched the campaign “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans”, starring the popular actress Sydney Sweeney. In it the brand celebrates denim as an iconic and timeless tissue and presents its garments as elements that help users to look and feel good.
The campaign is composed of various audiovisual pieces, and in all of them the brand performs the word game, relying on the appearance of the actress. “The carefully selected cowboy costumes feel unmistakably Sydney: natural, personal and faithful to his way of dressing American Eagle”, Commented on the brand about the campaign a few days ago.“Sweeney’s charm and his protagonist’s energy, along with his ability not to take himself too seriously, are the distinctive seal of this bold and fun campaign”
“This fall, American Eagle celebrates what makes our brand iconic: a denim that marks a trend“Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of the firm, commented to describe the campaign.”With Sydney Sweeney in front, she brings the charm, and we add the impeccable costume to achieve the winning combination of comfort, attitude and a touch of mischief”
For her part, the actress claimed to be attracted to the balance offered by brand products. “His commitment to the creation of garments that make you feel safe and comfortable with yourself is something that connects me. It is rare to find a brand that grows with you, as American Eagle has done for generations “he expressed in the American Eagle statement.
As part of the campaign, “The Sydney Jean” will be launched, a limited edition of Vaquero, produced in collaboration with the actress. This has a detail of a butterfly in the rear pocket representing domestic violence. The sales of this article will be allocated, as explained by the brand, to the Organization Crisis Text Line, focused on providing support for mental health.
In one of the pieces, the brand deepens the creative concept developed around parallelism between genetics and jeans. In his speech, Sweeney points out that genes determine aspects such as personality or hair and eyes color. “My genes are blue,” he says at the end of the video, linking with them the tone of their own eyes with that of the brand’s garments.
However, the word game and the brand message have not been well received by the audience, and the brand has encountered the disparate of society, especially polarized at the political and cultural level in the United States. The parallelism between “jeans” and “genes”, added to the use of a caucasic and regulatory person as a prescriptive, have made many interpret the campaign as discriminatory and even racist.
A large part of the spectators consider that the brand transfers that having good genes is synonymous with being white, young and with blue eyes. That is why they criticize the campaign by calling it “Nazi propaganda” and the brand of promoting white supremacy and eugenics.
They also cross out the sexist and macho campaign, and to rely on the “Male Gaze”, that is, to present a male look that derives in a sexualized representation of Sydney Sweeney. In this regard, many consider that the campaign is not intelligent, because it does not appeal to the target, that women would be, but intends to bring men.
Others, however, applaud the campaign as a sample of the “end of the woke.” Most of conservative cutting profiles, they celebrate that the normative figures in advertising are recovered after years in which the diversity and inclusion of all types of bodies have been promoted.
In addition, they point out that the choice of Sydney Sweeney as a prescriptive is successful, since it adequately represents the American spirit and aesthetics.
The campaign has generated all kinds of reactions, including many memes, sarcastic or parodies reinterpretations. The singer Doja Cat has been one of the best known faces to pronounce, imitating Sydney Sweeney’s speech in one audiovisual pieces, emphasizing the American accent.
At the time of writing this, article or American Eagle or actress Sydney Sweeney have spoken regarding the controversy that these days welcome social networks. All this despite the fact that many users are demanding an explanation from the brand.
The case, as has happened on previous occasions, such as the recent controversy with unequal and actress Ester Expósito, raises a new reflection about the importance, both of the contexts in which the messages are thrown, and the subtext of them and the perceptions for their construction. While the American Eagle campaign seeks to strengthen the American character of the firm, it has stumbled, deliberately or not, with the social moment.
THE DUNKIN CASE ‘
Genetics is also mentioned in the new Dunkin ‘announcement, with which the Donut chain promotes a drink. The protagonist is the actor Gavin Casalengo, of the series “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, and lends his skin tone to create a parallel with the name of the product, “Golden Hour Refreser.”
“This tan? Genetics. I just received my color analysis and guess what? Golden Summer“He says in the announcement, implying that the color that best suits him is that of the drink. Users have criticized – in line with the valuations of the American Eagle campaign – that the announcement praises the tan and the features associated with the beauty ideals of the white people, while mentioning genetics.
