Aug 6, 2025: After Trump praised the brand's new denim advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, shares of American Eagle rose by more than 23% on Monday. The campaign's use of the phrase "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans" in its tagline caused online debate, with critics claiming that it promoted eugenics. Trump described the advertisement as the "HOTTEST" available and a victory over "woke" advertising. Despite the stock bump, American Eagle is still down 21% for the year, facing weak sales and rising tariff costs, reports NBC news. The company maintains the ad is simply about jeans.
For doing so, she was heckled at the Americana premiere. Actor Sydney Sweeney has had quite the last few days. What started out as a new marketing campaign for American Eagle jeans quickly turned into criticism for pointing out that the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor has "good jeans" (which many people thought meant genes). Sydney caught flak for it online and, in a video shared by TMZ, was heckled at the premiere of her upcoming film, Americana, recently.
Sydney Sweeney heckled at Americana premiere:
Sydney attended the premiere of Americana dressed in a pale yellow outfit. As she stepped out of her SUV, a woman could be heard shouting, “Stop the ad, that is being racist.” The actor and her team looked unbothered as she made her way into the event while maintaining her cool.
American Eagle also came to Sydney’s defence, writing in a statement on their Instagram that the ad “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her tale. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.” US President Donald Trump supported her by calling it the ‘hottest’ ad out there and writing on Truth Social, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the “HOTTEST” ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are “flying off the shelves.” Go get ‘em Sydney!”