1 month ago
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A professional wrestling icon is supporting actress Sydney Sweeney on social media after she was caught in a firestorm stemming from an advertising campaign by clothing brand American Eagle.
Sweeney is the center of the apparel company's latest advertisement to promoted the brand's line of denim jeans.
The company's latest ads declare 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans' - a pun on 'genes' - with multiple print and video advertisements leaning into the play-on-words.
'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue,' Sweeney says in an advertisement.
This campaign has received significant backlash on social media - with many claiming that the words are in line with rhetoric promoting eugenics and white supremacy. Others view the backlash as a sign of cancel culture going too far.
One of those people in the latter category is WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter, who posted to his X account on Wednesday: 'Attention (Sydney Sweeney), YOU GO GIRL & That's An Order!!'
Sydney Sweeney, 27, is pictured in an ad campaign for American Eagle that was rolled out last week. The commercials have been criticized for how it alludes to Sweeney's 'great genes'.
Amid the backlash, Sweeney is receiving support from people like WWE icon Sgt. Slaughter
Slaughter, born Robert Remus, is a former WWF Heavyweight Champion and wrestled from 1972 to 2014.
Last Friday, the 76-year-old made an appearance on SmackDown during a tribute to the late Hulk Hogan, who died last week of a heart attack.
While Remus has made it known that he's in Sweeney's corner, much of the internet is still debating the intent behind the advertisement.
ESPN analyst David Dennis Jr took to social media, posting his opinion: 'I didn't think anything of the Sydney Sweeney ads.
'But then ACTUAL SCHOLARS ON MESSAGING, EUGENICS AND FASCISM explained what was going on then yes I understood and became pretty mortified because hey sometimes IT'S GOOD TO LISTEN TO EXPERTS'.
In a sarcastic post, Dennis Jr continued: 'I'm just happy that these AE ads are making it safe for conventionally attractive blue eyed blonde women to be accepted by society again. They're no longer the scourges of society they once were! FINALLY!'
One critic called the clip 'one of the loudest and most obvious racialized dog whistles we've seen and heard in a while.'
An article from Salon on the backlash noted that the phrase 'great genes' is 'historically used to celebrate whiteness, thinness and attractiveness' while also branding the campaign 'tone-deaf'.
But Alexandria Hurley, a Las Vegas-based publicist, speculated to DailyMail.com that the idea to stir the pot was not a mistake at all.
While the campaign's clever wordplay was intended to be playful, it ignited accusations on social media of promoting white supremacy — due to the focus on Sweeney's blue-eyed image
American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers said the campaign is designed to be flashier than competitors' and features Sweeney as one of the most recognizable young stars of the moment
'From a PR perspective, what we're seeing from Sydney Sweeney isn't a 'misstep' or 'Pepsi moment.' It's a calculated brand evolution. The idea that this ad slipped through the cracks underestimates both her and her team,' she explained.
Hurley went on to point out: 'Sydney has flirted with controversy before — from her SNL Hooters skit to her recent Bathwater Bliss collaboration with Dr. Squatch — and rather than walk it back after criticism, she's leaned further in. That's not oversight. That's strategy.'
She also stressed that the 'Great Genes' tagline was 'deliberately' provocative and that the 'racial undertones being called out aren't subtle.'
'Instead of apologizing, she and American Eagle quickly pivoted with a visual 'fix,' having her paint over the billboard. It's a gesture that looks performative at best, especially in the absence of any direct acknowledgement of the criticism,' Hurley stated.
