American Eagle appears to be working with a crisis PR firm amid Sydney Sweeney ad backlash
American Eagle is working with outside crisis communications specialists as it navigates the recent backlash to the brand’s campaign with Sydney Sweeney, according to information obtained by Modern Retail.
Media inquiries sent to American Eagle appear to have been forwarded to Actum, which positions itself online as a “global consulting firm, built to deliver highly meaningful and measurable outcomes for our clients around the world.” It has offices in six markets, including New York City and Sacramento, California, and lists “crisis” as one of its expertises, along with “advocacy,” “DEI” and “M&A advisory.”
The connection confirms that the $3.3 billion brand is looking for new ways to address the controversy around an ad campaign that’s been criticized as evoking eugenics and white supremacy, as well as being an overly sexual departure from prior campaigns that aimed to celebrate bodies of all kinds.
Modern Retail reached out to American Eagle earlier this week to see if the company had anything to say about the backlash to the ad. A representative from Actum got in touch, saying that Actum was “working with” the brand. Shortly after, American Eagle’s public relations agency of record contacted Modern Retail, saying that the source who contacted Modern Retail “was not authorized to speak on behalf of AE.” Modern Retail then contacted both Actum and American Eagle to clarify their relationship; neither replied by press time.
The news of Actum’s involvement comes about a week after American Eagle rolled out its new marketing campaign with Sweeney, which it ran on buses, a 20-story billboard in Times Square, the Sphere in Las Vegas and platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. The campaign is called “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” and plays on the homophones “jeans” and “genes.”
In one video, Sweeney, reclining in a pair of jeans, says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” Another video shows a wall ad that states, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes,” before Sweeney paints over it to say “jeans.”
Sweeney is white, blonde and blue-eyed, and the campaign drew criticism on social media, with some seeing the phrase “great genes” as a nod to eugenics, a discredited field purporting that the human race can be improved by selectively breeding for certain traits. “It’s giving ‘subtle 1930’s Germany,'” one commenter wrote on Instagram. “Yeah, no. Read the room and the political climate,” someone else wrote on TikTok. Others have accused American Eagle of catering to the male gaze through the ads, which pan up Sweeney’s body.
There’s also been a backlash to the backlash. Some on the internet have painted negative reactions as overly sensitive. Right-wing media personalities have applauded the campaign for spotlighting a woman considered conventionally attractive, saying it shows that “hotness is back.” (The YouTube caption for a segment on Megyn Kelly’s show says, “Culture can be honest and anti-woke about beauty again.”)
American Eagle has not issued an official statement on the campaign. Its share price, which shot up on the initial ad, has dipped 3% in the last five days. While much of American Eagle’s social media content in recent days has revolved around Sweeney, earlier this week, the brand published an Instagram post depicting a model of color. “Denim on denim on denim… on denim. AE has great jeans👖✨,” the caption reads. “Is this just damage control?” someone commented. “Would love to hear how many POC were involved in the creation and implementation of this campaign,” someone else wrote.
Focusing an entire campaign on one celebrity like Sweeney is a new direction for American Eagle, which, until now, has featured multiple public figures at a time in ads. American Eagle’s CMO, Craig Brommers, told Modern Retail last week that working with Sweeney — an actress known for her work on “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria” — was “the biggest get in the history of our brand” and, therefore, required a different approach.
He also mentioned parallels between Sweeney and the American Eagle brand. “Sydney represents the American Eagle brand well,” he said. “She can elevate, if she wants to, but also comes across as the girl next door and very accessible.”