When a backlash against your advertising campaign causes a mega sales surge, there’s no incentive to apologise or change tack.
Sydney Sweeney’s first ad for American Eagle did everything an ad is supposed to do, but at the same time it was accused of stoking white supremacy with its “good jeans” reference, while pulling in fans like Donald Trump and most Fox News viewers.
So here she is again, this time in shorts, with a knowing smile on her all-American face. It looks like a pretty cheap ad shot in a studio but already it’s doing the trick by pushing up sales, conversation and the share price.
Craig Brommers, American Eagle’s chief marketing officer, told USA Today that the new commercial “wasn’t about going backwards, it was about going forward. The world is curious, and the world will be talking when we launch the campaign. As we learnt in the fall campaign, there is noise, but there are also facts as well, and we’re excited to see where this campaign takes our brand.”
Well-timed to coincide with the release of the final series of TV series Euphoria in which Sweeney has a starring role, it’s it’s a transparent move but luckily she can act, so everyone wins on their own terms.
MAA creative scale: 5
