AMERICAN Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein has issued a blunt statement on his decision to air a controversial ad campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.
His six word response after the campaign was met with backlash was revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on September 29.
Actress Sydney Sweeney is most notably known for her roles in “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus.”[/caption]
American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein has spoken out about the ad for the first time in an interview with WSJ[/caption]
In his first interview since the campaign sparked controversy, Schottenstein stood by the campaign.
“You can’t run from fear,” he said in an interview with the WSJ.
“We stand behind what we did.”
The WSJ reported Schottenstein told executives to remain calm and instructed his employees not to comment on the advertisements.
The 71-year-old CEO then put a team in charge of monitoring social media posts about the campaign and hired a firm to poll customers.
THE CONTROVERSY
The campaign launched in July with the pun, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” and sparked backlash with claims that the ad was promoting eugenics.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” Sweeney said in the ad.
American Eagle later released a statement saying the campaign slogan “is and always was about the jeans.”
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone,” the statement read.
Social media users questioned the ad’s intended viewers after camera shots zoomed in on the actress’s chest, who also posed topless under a jean jacket in the ad.[/caption]
Social media users also questioned the ad’s intended viewers, claiming it appealed to the male gaze.
“Why is American Eagle using Sydney Sweeney to attract the male gaze when she’s wearing jeans for WOMEN?” a TikTok user said. “We aren’t going to buy jeans because they zoomed in on her chest…”
The ad gained attention all over social media, with President Donald Trump weighing in.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there,” he said on Truth Social.
The ad was pulled from American Eagle’s social media pages but continued to circulate online.
CEO SPEAKS OUT
Schottenstein, who is an Orthodox Jew, added he was shocked by the claims of eugenics, which shaped many persecutory policies in Nazi Germany during World War II.
“I’m very conscious of that term,” he said.
The CEO added if he and his team felt the campaign came across as offensive in that way they “never would’ve done it.”
Schottenstein said the polling commissioned by the company found people favored the ad.
We stand behind what we did.
Jay Schottenstein
The company’s sales improved after its launch, bringing in over a million new customers between July and September, per the WSJ.
The products that launched with the actress’s ad, the Sweeney Cinched Waist denim jacket and the Sydney Jean quickly sold out.
The jacket sold out in a day while the jeans, designed with a butterfly on the back pocket, sold out within a week.
