Yes, this Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle campaign is blowing up across media and social media, snagging headlines left and right. Clearly, they didn’t sufficiently test the copy (among other things), and yet their stock price has surged despite the scandal. Which is going to lead some folks to claim all PR is good PR…
That’s a hard no.
I can tell you definitively that is never the case, and there will be tangible fallout for AE as a brand. Media attention—even if for the wrong reasons—certainly gets your name out there, but negative debate damages the thing that matters most: positive name recognition.
And while critics will point to the eugenics side of things as the “issue” at play—and don’t get me wrong, it’s a real issue—the whole campaign itself is flawed. No, they didn’t run the copy by the right audiences. They clearly didn’t have a solid (read: diverse) mix of talent in the room when steering the campaign, because how did no one point to the “my genes are blue” bit and the association to Aryanism in this climate?! Or perhaps they didn’t think it’d be a dealbreaker. Either way, it’s poor judgment, or lack thereof, as is often the case in a “campaign-gone-bad” situation. Kendall x Pepsi, anyone?
I think about branding all day long on behalf of my clients, obsessing over the efforts that move the needle and those that miss the mark. Countless hours spent dialoguing around when a brand or their campaign doesn’t go far enough to create, deepen, or prove connection to consumers, and of course the opportunity therein to do better, more, different. So, I can tell you with a degree of confidence that fallout will happen—and soon. Expect a slew of influencer videos speaking their minds or saying they’ll be avoiding AE. And expect female consumers to respond with their wallets in direct accordance with how they feel.
But back to the campaign itself. Let’s be real: Sexy celeb sporting denim is somewhat tired. It’s been done since the ’80s when Brooke Shields first donned her Calvin Kleins (who can forget “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins”?) and the ’90s with those now iconic Levi’s 501 spots starring Cindy Crawford.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point to the fact that this Sweeney campaign was in fact “inspired” by a Shields spot where the latter discusses genetics and “survival of the fittest” while squeezing into some denim. But that was 45 years ago. Cultural context has changed in terms of how we talk about diversity as well as our bodies—significantly. Read the room.
We’ve moved past all that—or at least I thought we had. Even AE as a brand helped us move past all that, pulling a move out of Dove’s “Real Beauty” playbook by launching their #aeriereal campaign in 2014 to highlight body diversity coupled with body positivity. Crawford’s recent return to denim for Re/Done and Good American were designed to show that sexy can be ageless.
Meanwhile, Sweeney playfully talks to an unseen (presumably male) cameraman in her spots, making comments like “Hey, eyes up here,” when the camera zooms in on her breasts. The trajectory feels like we’re headed backwards.
As a spokesperson, Sweeney’s both “male-focused” and controversial when you consider her two recent campaigns for Dr. Squatch and another for Hey Dude. She’s tapped to secure the male gaze, obviously, but how does that sell denim to women? How will women respond? Female consumers are the people AE should be concerned about, not the men who might ogle her.
Sexed-up models don’t sell well to today’s woman. We want to see real bodies mirrored back at us. We love when a celeb embraces her flaws (we’re looking at you, Ashley Judd) or openly goes no makeup at major events (gorgeous move, Alicia Keys). We love—I kid you not, love—intentional vulnerability.
Edelman’s Trust Barometer has shown time and again that women want to feel seen, heard, respected, and reflected by the brands they choose to do business with, stating that “81% of women buy based on brand trust.” SeeHer, an initiative from the ANA, found that “29% of women in ads are inaccurately portrayed through some form of stereotyping, objectification, or diminished character.” And here’s one more: Two-thirds of women would “skip ads if they felt that they were negatively stereotyping women,” according to Kantar.
The data is crystal clear. Which is why the focus on Sweeney’s breasts and her sex symbol status feels like an odd play for a brand which arguably has been trying to market to “real women” for a decade-plus. The seemingly all-out shift in brand direction doesn’t make sense.
AE told Adweek that “Sydney is someone Gen Z can relate to,” hence their choice, but my Gen Z colleagues offered something far more nuanced. They’ve told me—full stop—that these spots don’t resonate with them; said it pisses them off that women like Sweeney have been repackaged into the same blue-eyed blonde bombshell their mothers were told men wanted. Interesting, considering that Edelman research reveals that spokespersons need to be relatable more than they need to be popular, with relatability nearly twice as important as “popularity as a quality that attracts people to influencers.”
So, what’s next? How does AE move forward? For one, don’t just roll back the campaign. Own the mistake, accept the blame. That’s the best PR move you could make, hands down … and it’s not (yet) happening. The brand’s marketing team has discontinued comments on their LinkedIn posts, but discourse will happen regardless, and it’s far better to participate than have it unfold around you.
Instead, solicit input from your consumer base—ask them what they want, then respond in kind. Maybe even revamp and reinvest in your #aeriereal campaign, hint hint.
It deserves mentioning that the brand’s CMO, Craig Brommers, called the actress “one of the biggest gets in American Eagle history,” before adding that he was hoping to see significant gains against the investment.
And he did—at first. That stock jump’s surely been thrilling, up just shy of 16% between the campaign’s air date and July 29. This (speculative) upturn follows a drop of 40% in the first six months of the year (32.7% year-to-date as of July 29).
But that can change, and quarterly sales reports might well tell a different tale. It’ll be a hard lesson learned, of course, and a healthy reminder that brands should obsess over what their consumers want, expect, and need; they must consider the messaging they’re putting out into the world.
Brands are accountable to us—to all consumers. And we will hold them as such.