American Eagle’s “Great Jeans” Ad: Eugenicist, Racist, Ableist Messaging?
Actress Sydney Sweeny in American Eagle Jeans Ad with DNA Helix Superimposed
When American Eagle launched a new ad campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great genes (jeans),” it didn’t just promote denim it reignited decades-old conversations about race, ableism, gender, and eugenics in marketing. This blog post will unpack the layered issues behind this ad, explore why the public backlash matters, and examine how advertising, especially when sexualized and whitewashed, plays a role in perpetuating historical systems of oppression.
From Flirty to Frightening: A Surface Level Joke with Deep Implications
At first glance, the ad seems simple: a beautiful blonde actress muses about inherited traits like blue eyes while posing in designer denim. But the not-so-subtle play on "genes" raises bigger questions about whose genes are being celebrated and whose are being erased.
“Genes are passed down from parents… often determining traits like hair color… even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
-Sydney Sweeney for American Eagle
The concern isn’t about a pun. It’s about the cultural timing, the racial and ableist subtext, and the long history of using advertising to normalize harmful ideologies.
Dr. Sayantani DasGupta: The First Red Flag
Pediatrician and Narrative Medicine professor Dr. Sayantani DasGupta was among the first to sound the alarm, comparing the ad to:
She shared how the ad tapped into eugenicist ideas by sexualizing whiteness and making “good genes” synonymous with beauty, health, and desirability. Her video on TikTok prompted me to delve deeper into the dark veil of this ad.
How Advertising Blends Sex, Power, and Pseudoscience
This isn’t the first time advertising blurred the lines between sex appeal and genetic superiority. In the 1980s, 15 year old Brooke Shields became the face of Calvin Klein in an ad campaign that linked femininity, sexuality, and heredity. Shields was quoted as saying:
“The secret of life lies hidden in the genetic code. Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to a succeeding generation.”
This overt sexualization of a child, paired with language about genetics, helped cement the idea that female desirability could be used to promote biological determinism in consumer culture.
Killing Us Softly: Women as Vessels for Dangerous Messages
In her groundbreaking media critique Killing Us Softly, Jean Kilbourne explains:
“Advertising doesn’t just sell products. It sells values, images, concepts of love and sexuality, of success and normalcy. It tells us who we are and who we should be.”
She warns that women in advertising are often reduced to objects that carry hidden messages about race, class, gender roles, and desirability. In campaigns like American Eagle’s, women become the “soft power” tools used to deliver ideologies that would feel too harsh or overt if delivered any other way.
Dunkin' Doubles Down: More “Genetic” Marketing
Soon after the American Eagle controversy, Dunkin’ Donuts ran a campaign featuring actor Gavin Casalegno boasting:
“This tan? Genetics. I just got my color analysis back… Golden summer.”
While seemingly lighthearted, the ad was widely criticized for:
Reinforcing Eurocentric beauty standards
Using “genetics” to justify attractiveness
Echoing the same troubling messages of inherited superiority
Outlets like People, Adweek, and IndiaTimes covered the backlash, noting how beauty, race, and genetics are being casually conflated in advertising again.
The Dark History of Eugenics and Its Legacy
Eugenics, meaning “good birth,” was once treated as legitimate science. But history has shown it to be a justification for horrific policies, including:
Forced sterilization of disabled and poor people
Anti-immigration laws based on “racial fitness”
The genocide of millions under Nazi Germany
As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains, eugenics is deeply tied to “appalling policies” and “horrifying” outcomes, especially targeting disabled, poor, and racialized groups.
Today, even casual praise of someone's “great genes” can send a coded message that some lives and bodies are inherently more valuable than others.
Disability advocates have spoken out forcefully. As reported by STAT News, one parent called RFK Jr.'s proposed autism registry a “slippery slope to eugenics,” warning that disabled people were historically the first victims of these ideologies.
The Current Political Climate: It Is That Deep
Some claim the backlash is overblown. But those arguments ignore the current political landscape, where eugenic and racialized rhetoric is making a disturbing comeback.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly referenced genetics and heredity in disturbing ways:
“The immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country... You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes.”
—Trump Rally, 2023
He has also expressed admiration for the so-called racehorse theory, saying:
“You have to be born lucky, in the sense that you have the right genes. I’m a believer in the racehorse theory. Some people have it. Some people don’t.”
—Trump Interview, 2010
These beliefs are rooted in the same ideologies that informed eugenics movements in the 20th century.
Other prominent politicians echo similar views:
This is not fringe rhetoric anymore. These ideas are being voiced by elected officials, which makes ads about “great genes” more than just tone-deaf; they’re dangerous.
American Eagle Outfitters is a publicly traded company. Its largest shareholders are financial institutions like BlackRock and Vanguard. However, its CEO, Jay Schottenstein, is a major Republican donor. According to OpenSecrets, he donated $13,740 to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in 2022 and has given very little to Democrats. While there’s no clear evidence of far-right ideology, his political leanings are in line with today’s GOP.
Want to Learn More?
Watch:
The Eugenics Crusade – PBS
Jean Kilbourne’s TEDx Talk – The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields – Hulu
Read:
The Passing of the Great Race by Madison Grant (1916) – foundational eugenics text
Imperfect Mothers: Feminism, Eugenics, and Disability – an academic analysis of how eugenics policed womanhood and disability
Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert – essays on misogyny in pop culture
This controversy isn’t about cancel culture or being too sensitive. It’s important to understand how subtle marketing can reinforce systems that are anything but subtle in their consequences. Advertising doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It mirrors and shapes culture. And when that culture is leaning into white supremacy, ableism, and eugenics, we have to push back.If we don’t question why “great genes” is being celebrated in this moment, we risk repeating history, not just in fashion ads, but in public policy and social norms.
