AE PROVES FASHION IS MORE POLITICAL THAN EVER
Unless you live under a rock,
You’ve probably seen or at least heard about the American Eagle X Sydney Sweeney ad campaign. But, in case you haven’t…
American Eagle x Sydney Sweeney Ad Campaign
So… what’s the big deal?
Let’s talk politics.
In order to understand the sociocultural implications this ad establishes, we must but keep in mind that fashion is political. In fact, with everything going on in the world right now, quite literally everything is political.
You’ve probably noticed that our political climate has become extremely polarized in these last few years. Though polarity in American politics has been increasing since Trump first ran for president in 2016, in 2025, our country has become more divided than ever. According to a study done by SNF Agora/YouGov poll in 2024, nearly half of Americans think members of the opposing political party are ‘evil’.
Findings are based on survey answers from 2,000 respondents who make up a demographically and politically representative sample of the U.S. electorate.
SO?
10 years ago, it seemed no one was speaking out about what beliefs companies like Starbucks or Target support. Nowadays, consumers (specifically, gen-Z consumers) seem to be hyper-aware of who they’re really supporting when they’re buying their body soap, clothing, and milk & eggs.
Though politics have always been integral in daily life, morals, and values, they especially are now, more than ever.
In such a volatile political climate, we are seeing our friends, neighbors and strangers speak out about their beliefs more and more. Under Trump’s presidency, policies and rhetoric have more noticeably seeped into culture, media, business, and day-to-day personal interactions. Things that may have seemed neutral in the past — like where you buy your toothpaste from, what news you read, or even so far as dyed hair/piercings can be perceived as apart of your political identity. Just think about the phrase ‘Trump supporter’.
Back in 2012, no one calling their peers an ‘Obama supporter’ or ‘Mitt Romney supporter’. Even a phrase seemingly so small exemplifies our country’s extreme polarity.
How politics and fashion intertwine
Ever heard of the phrase ‘tradwife’? It’s short for ‘traditional wife’, and it has been trending for a little while now on TikTok. It thrives on the current rise of conservatism and encourages women to ‘embrace their natural societal roles’. A Times article explains, “Their advocacy for the ideology and principles of so-called “traditional” gender roles in marriage ultimately have the effect of promoting a return to the days of coverture and an erasure of the hard-fought (if incomplete) gains of women’s rights activists throughout American history.”
The tradwife movement is just one small example of how our country is regressing, day by day. The sexualization of young women in media has become rather apparent again, too. (Not that it ever truly went away.) In the 2000’s, companies like Arby’s or Carl’s Jr would use women as sex objects to sell their burgers. In 2025, Alix Earle brought back that ‘nostalgia’ in her Carl’s Jr ad for Super Bowl LIX.
And it isn’t just over-sexualization and sexism that flourishes under Trump’s America.
It’s racism, too. The most topical, as of late: ICE raids. They’ve been happening all over the country — innocent people searching for better lives are being torn away from their families and lives are being destroyed. The Trump administration’s recent efforts to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have drawn criticism for fostering division and reinforcing stereotypes, including the perception that immigrants are more likely to engage in crime. Read about the ICE sweeps and their social and cultural impact here.
And read about what you can do to help here!
Knowing all of this…
Now that I’ve thoroughly yapped about the current sociopolitical state of our country, I can finally get to explaining why, especially now, this ad deserves to be questioned with critical thinking skills.
American Eagle
Everything wrong with the ae x sydney sweeney ad campaign, from jeans to genes
The Genes.
Sweeney: “Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring. Often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Creepy ad man: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Or did you mean, genes, creepy ad man?
Okay so, obviously, the ad is a play on the word jeans/genes. That’s very clear. The problem here, is that, yes, while AE is trying to advertise that they sell quality jeans (Abercrombie is better lol but whatever), they’re also advertising that Sydney Sweeney has great genes. It may have meant to come off as though, she has good jeans because she’s beautiful, but if that were the case, why specifically mention hair color (blonde) and eye color (blue)? Obviously, mentioning that Sydney Sweeney is white would be much too obvious and controversial, so the script writers just stuck to advertising traits that only white women can possess. If I didn’t explain this well enough, Sayantani DasGupta sure as sh*t did. Watch her analysis, here.
2. her voice.
What did the director ask for? Sydney to make herself sound as stupid as possible?
“Jeans are passed down from pahhhrents to affsprang.”
Just in case there weren’t enough racial implications, I guess AE also felt the need to perpetuate the dumb blonde, big boobs stereotype too. Sweeney’s voice does not sound like that outwards of this ad, if you’ve ever watched any of her interviews.
3. the Brooke shields copycat that should never be copied. like, ever.
In 1980, Brooke Shields did an ad for Calvin Klein Jeans. In it, she explains the scientific definition of genetics while putting on a pair of jeans. At 15 years old, her body was sexualized on national television to advertise jeans. It’s clear from watching Sweeney and Sheilds’ ads back to back that they mirror each other. Not a good look.
4. The sexualization of a woman… to sell women’s jeans… to women?
Need I say more? Okay. If you insist.
It makes absolutely no sense to sexualize Sweeney in an ad marketed toward women. Clearly, AE’s PR/marketing team is taking advantage of our country’s regression and rise of conservatism.
5. The jeans.
In one of the ads in the set that came out, Sweeney claims AE jeans “make your butt look amazing” and proceeds to turn around, walk away, and caress her own. Welp, that’s awkward, considering the fact that the jeans she’s wearing in these ads do not, in fact, look amazing on her or her butt. For her body type, a lower rise and less baggy fit would have been much more flattering.
Despite my personal GRIEVANCES,
The ad preformed extremely well. According to CNN, American Eagle’s stock surged by 25%, and according to BBC, “The ad drew some 40 billion impressions and helped Sweeney's signature jeans selling out within a week of the campaign's launch.”
Also in the CNN article, Shalini Shankar, an anthropology professor at Northwestern University spoke about the controversy. “It seemed clear to me that they were aligning themselves with a white nationalist, MAGA-friendly identity. I think that this is them trying to rebrand themselves for the present moment, and language is very deliberately used here.” Call me a follower, but I’ll have to agree with Shankar on this one.
in the end,
This ad should give you a lot to think about. One thought being, fashion is political, and it’s not apart of the “woke agenda” to know that. We should be thinking critically about these things in order to gain understanding, empathy, and knowledge. The main question I thought of while watching the ads and writing this post is, would this ad have done so well (sales wise) under our country’s pre-Trump political climate? What do you think?
