Hey creatives,
Let’s talk about the Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle campaign, because while it's catching fire online for boosting sales, because while it’s trending for driving sales, it’s also being rightfully called out for its lazy, tone-deaf storytelling and racist undertone.
On paper, it should’ve worked:A Gen Z celebrity, a legacy denim brand, and a campaign built to feel confident and cool.
But instead?It’s giving Brooke Shields in “My Calvins”—and not in a good way.
📸 The aesthetic: male-gazey and objectifying🎥 The tone: outdated and culturally hollow🎯 The execution: a textbook case of performance over perspective
Listen closely.
Sydney starts:
“Genes are passed down from parent to offspring, often determining things like hair color, personality, even eye color. My genes are blue.”
Then the narrator chimes in:
“Sydney Sweeney has great genes jeans.”
And let’s be real:If this campaign featured a Black or Brown woman, with the same script, same visuals, it wouldn’t just spark debate. It would spark outrage.
Years ago, I worked on a retail brand promoting an “All White Party.” To clarify: Not all white people, but an all white clothing party. And to clarify some more, no it wasn’t Calvin, since I used to work there too. Seemed harmless, until the agency we were working with submitted a creative featuring all white models under the words “All White Party.”
I didn’t even have to say a word to my (white and major ally) creative director.We looked at each other and immediately flagged it.
Our fix? We revised it with a diverse set of models on the asset as to not take away from what we were communicating, dress code, not outcasting.
But not without that pause, that moment of realizing how easy it is to skip over nuance because it requires less thinking and revision.
That’s why diverse representation isn’t enough.You need diverse decision-makers, people empowered to speak up and be heard.
And I can almost guarantee someone inside American Eagle’s team, maybe a strategist, a coordinator, a junior creative, may have spoken up.And got ignored. Or silenced. Or outranked.
It has got to stop.
Because this isn’t just a creative misfire.It’s brand sabotage disguised as clever wordplay.
This campaign pushes a narrative that’s unmistakably exclusionary. It celebrates whiteness as the default, with no room for anything else.
When brands prioritize a moment over nuance and shock value over substance,
you’re not being bold, you’re being careless.
So if you’re at the top, on strategy, casting, production, approvals, ask yourself:
🧠 Are we creating with cultural awareness or cultural amnesia?🎯 Are we valuing perspective or just chasing performance?📢 Are we truly living our brand values, or do we want bad press to spark buzz?
〰️ Thanks for reading Thoughts of a Strategist, it means a lot. If you’re into marketing, culture, and how strategy actually shows up in the real world, you’ll like what’s coming next. Want more? You can follow me over on Instagram and Tiktok.
〰️ Curious about partnering on a brand project, workshop, or feature? I’m always open to collabs that make sense. Reach me at [email protected]
Thoughts of a Strategist is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.