American Eagle’s Controversial ‘Good Genes’ Campaign Reveals Cultural Blind Spots and Corporate Calculations

American Eagle Outfitters’ recent advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney was marketed as bold and provocative — but what it really accomplished was exposing the growing divide between out-of-touch corporate messaging and the common sense of everyday Americans.The centerpiece of this fall denim campaign was a pun-filled slogan: “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.” While a play on words linking genetics to jeans may seem harmless at face value, the backlash revealed deeper societal tensions about race, beauty standards, and cultural sensitivity.Why Did This Ad Strike Such a Nerve?Critics quickly connected the phrase “good genes” to the dark history of eugenics—an...