A recent poll indicated that not many Americans were outraged by the provocative American Eagle jeans ads featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.
The clothing brand launched the ad at the end of July, which quickly garnered attention across the politically charged TikTok platform. Some mainstream media outlets amplified the backlash, while many on the right shared mocking reactions.
According to an Economist/YouGov survey, only 12% of those surveyed found the jeans ads offensive, while 39% considered them clever. Meanwhile, around 40% said they felt indifferent—neither offensive nor clever—while 8% were unsure of their feelings.
Interestingly, men tended to respond more positively to the ads than women. Approximately 49% of men found them smart, compared to just 31% of women. On the flip side, 17% of women deemed the ads offensive, with only 7% of men agreeing.
Many on the left suggest that the outrage over these ads is largely exaggerated by right-leaning commentators. It has led to some eye-rolling responses from Democrats, including those from the White House and Senator JD Vance.
“This really highlights something curious about Democrats. It features a typical, attractive American girl promoting jeans,” Vance noted on a podcast. “The intention is to sell jeans to American youth, but they managed to get all worked up over it. Haven’t you learned anything from the elections?”
Much of the passionate response came from female leftist commentators on TikTok.
“If you can’t see how damaging this is, open your eyes and listen. This is Nazi rhetoric, plain and simple!” one TikTok user lamented.
“This nonsense about pure Americans and good genes—this is precisely the kind of Nazi talk that Jews have cautioned us against for ages!” she emphasized.
Eventually, American Eagle addressed the backlash with a rather mundane statement.
“The phrase ‘Sidney Sweeney has great jeans’ has been all about jeans until now. Her jeans. Her story. We will continue to celebrate the way everyone wears AE jeans with confidence. Amazing jeans look good on everyone,” the statement read.
The poll was conducted from August 9 to 11, involving 1,635 adults.
