5 Takeaways from Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle Ad

The actress’ disgraced American Eagle advert was accused by many of aligning with right wing propaganda. Here’s 5 things we’ve learned from the fallout:

Sydney Sweeney

Image Credits: American Eagle

  1. The advert worked.

    It’s easy to forget that a company is involved here, who in turn have benefitted from all the furore. The once relatively unknown brand outside the US is now a global name.

  2. We were teased into this one.

    While the weight of the “great genes” tagline is still being disputed between a harmless comment and nazi eugenics: if we had ignored the advert, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The extreme outcry and attention geared towards Sweeney is exactly what conservative America feeds off. Whether American Eagle were trying to provoke the left or not, you could argue the initial reaction was the catalyst for this mess. An important reminder: the advert didn’t say she had the “greatest” genes, people just reacted as if it did.

  3. The far-right take no interest in the arts.

    It’s no surprise that Sweeney’s Christy Martin biopic enjoyed one of the worst box office openings for a film released in 2000+ theatres last weekend, grossing a meek $1.3 mil against a $13 mil budget. The republicans might support you on X or Truth Social (such as Trump himself) but clearly they’re of no aid in the creative realm - they lack the emotional sensitivity to appreciate the arts.

  4. Some Hollywoodians do have a backbone.

    Ruby Rose and Aimee Lou Wood are among the many who’ve denounced Sweeney, with Rose keeping it subtle: “You’re a cretin and you ruined the film.” Mixed with rumours that her ‘Euphoria’ co-stars Zendaya and Alexa Demie refuse to do press with the actress, it’s comforting that some people in Hollywood do have morals!

  5. Collectively, we need to ignore Sydney Sweeney.

    You’d have thought anyone accused of endorsing genetic superiority would have done their best to denounce said title unless: a) they support it or b) they enjoy the publicity. In light of her utterly embarrassing GQ interview last week, where she inadvertently said that she’ll denounce white supremacy when “it’s an issue [she] wants to speak about” - the actress only seems to be passionate towards fuelling the fire.

    I contacted a friend in NYC, currently celebrating the recent win of Mamdani. Regarding the advert, she simply said: “I’m exhausted. I think we need to leave it, really.” Let this be the last time SS is a topic of conversation.

Sydney Sweeney

Image Credits: @ohupretty on X