Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad campaign is definitely anti-woke
So much to unpack with this Sydney Sweeney ad campaign for American Eagle.
Let’s start with eugenics. Advertising often plays on words. It is a way to create cognitive dissonance so people will pay attention.
Most people may not see the first clip in the above video and those who don’t might not be offended. But those who do know EXACTLY what the company is saying and it’s offensive to their customer base, never mind people who will never buy their jeans.
Let’s move to purpose washing. If you saw me in the Netflix documentary “Buy Now,” you heard me explain greenwashing, or purpose washing, as when companies pretend to care about a cause but in fact, they really don’t give a fuck.
This campaign is the quintessential example of purpose washing. The company says that 100% of the sale of these jeans will go to Crisis Text Line. However, as you can see, these jeans aren’t available yet— when the campaign has started. There is no plausible reason why these jeans aren’t available now. None.
Finally, if the sale of these jeans is supposed to support women in crisis due to domestic violence, why would you present a woman in the ads as being so suggestive? The cognitive dissonance is too great, and you degrade the cause you profess to care about.
What also is incredibly unusual in this case is that they are saying the entire price of the pair of jeans ($89) will go directly to the charity. No one does this, with the exception of MAC cosmetics with their annual VIVA GLAM lipstick, and that’s no where near this price point. Keep your eyes on whether these jeans actually become available.
The American Eagle Ad featuring Sydney Sweeney is the quintessential example of purpose washing.
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