Pop’s most dedicated troll, Doja Cat, has officially chimed in on the extremely-online uproar over Sydney Sweeney’s new jeans campaign for American Eagle.
On TikTok, Doja Cat spoofed the ad copy Sweeney delivered in one of the videos for the campaign, which has come under fire for its half-baked attempt at clever wordplay with “jeans” and “genes.” In a thick, hyper-exaggerated Southern drawl, Doja Cat says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are … bleee.” (In the actual ad, Sweeney says “blue.”)
While there’s good reason the “all press is good press” maxim usually holds true, Doja’s video — which has been viewed nearly 11 million times, and received 2.5 million likes in less than 24 hours — probably isn’t the kind of extra viral exposure the marketing wizards behind the “jeans/genes” campaign were hoping for. Then again, neither is the overall conversation around the “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ads.
The decision to center the promos around the “jeans” and “genes” homophone has turned the campaign into a culture-war flashpoint. It’s exacerbated by the fact that Sweeney was, through no fault of her own, already a culture-war flashpoint thanks to the weird, often creepy politicization of her body, especially by those on the right. (See, for example, the “commentary” piece that ran in the National Post last year with the opening line: “Are Sydney Sweeney’s breasts double-D harbingers of the death of woke?”)
It’s no surprise, then, that pairing Sweeney — who has blonde hair and blue eyes — with the tagline “has great jeans/genes” has led some on the left to accuse the campaign of subtly (or not-so-subtly) dog-whistling eugenics and white supremacy. Meanwhile, some on the right are celebrating the campaign for allegedly doing just that, calling the spots yet another harbinger of the death of woke.
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Neither Sweeney nor American Eagle have returned Rolling Stone’s requests for comment on the controversy.
Sweeney previously addressed the way others have politicized her appearance, telling NME last year, “There’s not anything I can do.” She added: “I think it’s important to be aware of everything and then use that information however I may well. But I’m just being me, that’s all.”
