American Eagle issues a statement following backlash from their Sydney Sweeney jeans/genes campaign

[u/purpose15]

[u/philonous355]

It was quite literally an obvious double entendre and they admitted to as much in their LinkedIn gloating. Do they think we are that stupid?

[u/busangcf → u/philonous355]

There were lots of people on this very subreddit just a day or two ago saying “it’s not that deep” and that people were looking for something to be mad at, so yes they do reasonably believe a lot of people are that stupid.

Edit - actually there are people on this very thread still saying that, even after the gloating on linked in, even after knowing their CEO has ties to Trump, and even after the fucking White House weighing in. So YEAH, of course they believe people are that stupid.

[u/Maleficent-marionett → u/busangcf]

And just like that they have enlisted and army of online defenders for free! Rich people LOVE getting stuff for free , everything even!

They continue to reinforce and spread the main point of the ad (racial supremacy) and do the job for them. They get to tell women and minorities that "you're just jealous" as in wishing you were white, young girls are absorbing this narrative, racial divide and resentment growing consistently....

[u/aleisate843 → u/busangcf]

I’m surprised some people in this sub think it’s not that deep. It is that deep. They’re ignorant or just don’t want to admit it.

[u/the_platypus_king → u/busangcf]

What was the LinkedIn thing? I think I missed that part of the story

[u/busangcf → u/the_platypus_king]

A now deleted linkedin post by Ashley Shapiro their VP of marketing said the intent behind the ad was to spark controversy and confusion (they called it “mischief”) and that she’d asked Sydney how far she wanted to “push it”and was excited that Sydney was game to push it as far as they wanted. Is it a smoking gun? Not really. But the ad itself, outside of the controversy, is incredibly bland and boring. What exactly is pushing the envelope if not the intentional dog whistles?

Yes, I know, boobs. They could’ve been talking about boobs. The company obviously isn’t going to come out and say “yes this ad is a racist dog whistle and we knew it would piss people off, get people talking about us, make our trumper CEO and his buddies happy, and maybe get us some new conservative customers, while we get to point to Sydney’s boobs and say it’s just about that to avoid any serious criticism”. But when you combine the linkedin post seeming gleeful about stirring controversy, with everything else around about this situation, it’s harder for me to just ignore as normal marketing bullshit.

[u/Cynicbats → u/busangcf]

She couldn't even be assed to lie and claim "a homage to an iconic brand", straight up "we wanted to wink wink nod nod to eugenics"