Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney has been causing quite the stir with her recent American Eagle advertisement. The recent ad campaign has been running on the controversial slogan, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” which is the main reason for the criticism. Many have pointed out the correlation between the homophone ‘jeans’ and ‘genes’ and the actress’s appearance. The connection between the two words and Sweeney’s blue eyed and blonde hair appearance has caused many to suspect racist undertones. The ad campaign is strangely reminiscent of eugenics and has already caught the attention of multiple politicians as well as fellow celebrities. 

According to NME, Lizzo has recently joined in on the backlash and parodied the ad herself. On July 31, she posted an image on Instagram of her in a full denim outfit and pose, strikingly similar to American Eagle’s ad. The image featured a tagline above it saying, “If the Democrats won the election.” She also captioned the post with, “My jeans are black,” which is a direct parody of the ad’s slogan. Lizzo is now the second musician to poke fun at the ad campaign. The first was Doja Cat, who recently posted a TikTok video of her mocking the ad by reciting it in an exaggerated Southern drawl. 

American Eagle has since posted their response to the backlash on their various social media. In a new post, the company wrote, “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way.” They ended the statement with “Great jeans look good on everyone.” Sweeney has yet to comment on any of the backlash the campaign has received.