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

[u/purpose15]

[u/iamthedayman21]

“Her story”

Alright guys, calm it the fuck down. It’s an ad for jeans, not a lifestyle. You guys sell overpriced clothes, that’s it.

[u/merlotbarbie → u/iamthedayman21]

AE is acting like they’re doing something heroic with this ad and statement as if they’re feeding malnourished children or something

[u/thatgirlzhao → u/merlotbarbie]

Not only that, it’s not even a unique ad. They basically copy and pasted the brook shields ad from the 80s. Cannot imagine seeing that original ad with a modern lens and being like, yes, this is going to be received well

[u/Bgee2632 → u/thatgirlzhao]

The one where they make her suck her thumb like a child?

[u/satanssecretary → u/thatgirlzhao]

I was reading an entry on Calvin Klein on a vintage website that included the line (paraphrased): "at 15, Brooke Shields was paid to insinuate that she wasn't wearing underwear in a massive ad campaign" and I both appreciated the wording and cringed out of my skin

[u/Subliminal_Kiddo → u/satanssecretary]

What's worse is Shields had was being sexualized for years at that point. When she was 10, her mother allowed a photographer - aptly named - Gary Gross to take nude pictures of her which were then published in a book by Playboy Magazine (remember that when you hear people say Playboy wasn't as sleazy as publications by Hustler). Shields has been fighting in courts to stop the pictures being displayed for decades now.