As backlash mounted against American Eagle’s ad campaign with Sydney Sweeney, Tesla jumped in with a joke.
The carmaker, headed by Elon Musk, wrote: “Our seats robot also has great jeans” in a tongue-in-cheek X post on Wednesday. It was posted alongside a video of a robotic arm performing automated durability testing on its car seats.
Then, the company doubled down, writing “Seatney” in a follow-up comment.
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American Eagle has not responded to FOX Business request for comment.
It was a dig at the apparel company’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ad, which is described as “a return to essential denim dressing and a celebration of what the beloved brand does best: making customers look and feel good in AE Jeans.”
In the ad, which went viral, the 27-year-old actress is seen walking toward an AE billboard featuring her with a tagline: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes.” In the video, Sweeney crossed out “Genes” and replaced it with “Jeans” before walking away.
However, a growing number of critics slammed the “Europhia” star’s jeans ad campaign, saying it promoted racist and “regressive” themes despite the proceeds of the jeans going towards a mental health support hotline.
Some critics have claimed the tagline of Sweeney’s ad is promoting “eugenics movements.” The National Institutes of Health (NIH) described eugenics “as the use of selective breeding to improve the human race.”
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Some people on social media have said the fact that Sweeney has blue eyes and blonde hair is rubbing them the wrong way.
“It sounds like a white purity dog whistle, and that’s why people are uncomfortable,” one critic posted on X.
Others have pushed back on the criticism. Piers Morgan, in a tweet said, “The Sydney Sweeney furor perfectly epitomizes why the woke left is so bonkers. They call everyone a Nazi or white supremacist, even when she’s obviously neither, and they hate women celebrating beauty and sex appeal. It’s why woke is dead — we all just laugh at their idiocy now.”
The company’s stock dropped as the backlash persisted. However, AE’s website also noted that a butterfly motif on the back pocket of the jeans represents domestic violence awareness. It’s a cause that Sweeney supports.
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“In support of the cause, 100% of the purchase price from ‘The Sydney Jean’ will be donated to Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering free, 24/7, confidential mental health support to anyone in need—just text 741741,” the site says.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEO | AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS INC. | 11.27 | -0.26 | -2.25% |
Despite the jeans promoting a good cause, online critics were fixated on the ad’s alleged white supremacist undertones.
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