KATSEYE’s “Better in Denim” via ELLE

Jacqueline Graif

Voices Editor

What was meant to be a clever play on words has spiraled into a controversial movement of “femininity” provoked by a popular clothing brand. American Eagle published an advertisement last month with ambassador Sydney Sweeney, wherein she attempts to play on the word “genes” by replacing it with “jeans.” However, the advertisement has stirred up controversy all over the internet as the public argue it is anti-feminist marketing. 

The commercial stars conventionally beautiful, big-chested, blonde-haired and blue-eyed movie star Sydney Sweeney. In one version of the campaign, the camera pans from her low-cut denim shirt to a full shot of her perfectly-shaped butt. She tells the audience: “I’m not going to tell you [the jeans] make your butt look good,” as the camera moves to show her checking her body in a full-length mirror. 

In the most popular version, however, Sweeney is lying diagonally on a platform. She then buttons up her jeans in a very sexual manner as the camera moves up her body; likely to imitate the aftermath of intercourse. She speaks in a low seductive voice: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… Often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color…” She then stares directly into the camera to say “My jeans are blue.” A male voice then narrates “Sydney Sweeney has Great Jeans.”  

Before her career-altering role as sexy and ditzy Cassie Howard in “Euphoria,” Sydney Sweeney had starred as theatre-club president, punk-rock bisexual, Emaline, in the ‘90s-based LGBT+ TV show “Everything Sucks!” Most queer youth envisioned her character as a pariah, being openly queer in the ‘90s and kissing girls on TV. When “Euphoria” began, it was as if Sweeney had lost this edge to her. Any vision we had of spunky, queer Sydney Sweeney seemed to have faded. She then made a splash with rom-com “Anyone But You” in 2023, where she played a “stereotypical” straight girl and flirted with co-star Glenn Powell in interviews. 

Sweeney’s career has then taken a hit with the new American Eagle advertisement, especially after controversy surrounding her discovered republicanism from the last American presidential election. According to The Guardian, Sweeney registered as a republican in Florida before the 2024 election. She has been criticized by many fans and young media influencers for her sudden switch to republicanism. The criticism due to her newfound republicanism and controversial media campaign intensified to the point that American Eagle took down the full-length advertisement from their YouTube channel. 

The damage, though, had already been done. Sweeney made her mark and clarified her message: she was ready to objectify herself for the sake of marketing jeans to her young audience. Perhaps it was a play on the lingering Cassie Howard personality, but it instead stirred controversy and criticism towards Sweeney for rejecting feminist values and objectifying her body for a billion-dollar corporation.

“Sydney Sweeney has Great Jeans” is the catch-phrase of the entire marketing campaign, with the intent of a double-entendre. Sweeney has great jeans (by American Eagle), but she also has great genes. Sweeney is the prototype of the Aryan race: light-skinned, blonde-hair, blue-eyed, skinny, and idealistic proportions (small waist with big breasts and buttocks). We are no stranger to the Republican administration in the United States, wherein Donald Trump seems to be following a lot of Adolf Hitler’s practices, especially the idealization of the Aryan race. In efforts to resuscitate Hitler’s practices through racist attempts of mass deportation, Trump has currently 58,381 humans in ICE detention according to NBC News.

“This begs the question– is American Eagle pushing Republican propaganda as they glorify the Aryan race? “

Sweeney’s genes are not only Aryan, but “idealistic” by Western society’s beauty standards, which has sparked the conversation around eugenics. Eugenics is the belief (mainly by white supremacists) that the human race can breed out less desirable genetic traits, according to NPR. If Sweeney “has great genes”, then it is implied she has the most “desirable” genes, and she should be the beauty standard. Is America becoming the survival of the literal fittest? 

Some say that the American Eagle advertisement was a homage to Brooke Shields’ Calvin Klein campaigns from the ‘80s, a comparison made by Doreen St. Felix of The New Yorker. In her own ad, Shields says: “The secret to life lies hidden in the genetic code” before struggling to put on her Klein jeans. The biggest difference is that Shields was 15 in her video, while Sweeney is 28. The controversy grew upon this discovery because of the glorified sexualization of a minor while Shields has spoken-out about the abuse she experienced. What was American Eagle trying to do? Every piece of evidence seems to point to gaining traction on the internet, no matter how that may be. According to The New York Times, American Eagle’s stock grew 74% since Sweeney’s video was released. 

In perfect time, global pop girl group KATSEYE joined the conversation. The group is made of members Lara Rajagopalan, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, Manon Bannerman, Daniela Avanzini, and Jeung Yoonchae. KATSEYE was created from the Netflix special “POP-STAR ACADEMY” a collaboration between Korean-music corporation HYBE and American label Geffen. 

The KATSEYE girls have been seen in their most vulnerable states on the show: pushed through cruel competitions and forced to work in difficult conditions. Fans were able to follow the girls and vote for their favourites during the training process, which at the time (2023) was called “Dream Academy” on YouTube. This meant a large fan-base, which was achieved as they have garnered 6.3 million followers on Instagram and 29.3 million listeners on Spotify. 

KATSEYE’s advertisement, published in August, was seen as a response to American Eagle’s controversy involving the girls singing the lyrics “It’s better than yours.” The six members are seen wearing GAP denim skirts, jeans, shirts, and jackets as they dance to Kelis’ y2k-era song “Milkshake.” The choreography is electric, and their visuals are refreshing. The six girls all come from culturally diverse backgrounds: Chinese-Singaporean, Venezuelan-Cuban, Korean, Indian, Filipino, and Ghanaian-Italian-Swiss. 

Their dance quickly went viral on TikTok, sparking a trend set to Doja Cat’s “MOOO!,” in which one verse resembles Kelis’s “Milkshake.” The girls in the video are seen in tight-fitting, short outfits and dancing to a song with sexual intonation. So then why is KATSEYE gaining positive feedback, while Sweeney’s is negative? 

KATSEYE was meant to be the next big female pop group promoting diverse and talented singers and dancers. Wildly successful, the group has already made the Billboard Hot 100 List twice with their hit songs “Gnarly” (#63) and “Gabriela” (#90). They have stolen the hearts of both K-pop fans and the general public, thanks to their unique position under an American label, which allows them to bypass certain K-pop industry regulations—such as being openly queer, using explicit language, and maintaining personal lives. However, they have also gained new fans due to their diversity.

“Young girls and teens finally seeing girls who look like them thrive in the pop music world has allowed KATSEYE to soar.”

KATSEYE’s video was empowering: a group of young, hard-working, racially diverse, and queer girls (Megan and Lara are both openly queer, which is rare in the K-pop world). Their campaign is inspiring, showing young girls of all races that they too can make it in the music industry. KATSEYE demonstrates the importance of representation through their video and as they continue to release music and chart globally.

Now, that is not to say that KATSEYE’s video does not have a sexual connotation, because it does. The girls are dancing in somewhat revealing, tight-fitting clothing to suggestive lyrics. For example, the song goes “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, they say it’s better than yours. Damn right, it’s better than yours. I can teach you but I have to charge.” The girls look into the camera suggestively throughout the entire video, and shake their hips and butts. 

Essentially, it all comes down to the fact that KATSEYE’s ad features a group of fresh, diverse young pop stars, whereas Sweeney is involving herself in what comes across as Republican propaganda. GAP’s “Better in Denim” ad has almost 23 million views on YouTube, and the campaign has generated over 100 times GAP’s usual engagement rates, according to Forbes. KATSEYE’s ad was well-received, as it is an empowering dance that resurrects an iconic song from the early 2000s. 

Sweeney’s “Great Jeans” via The Hollywood Reporter

Sweeney’s ad was a push on the Aryan race, eugenics and what society tells women they should be. The fact that Sweeney is allegedly a registered Republican does not invalidate the theory that the American Eagle campaign promotes far-right, neo-Nazi ideals.

Both GAP and American Eagle have managed to gain traction and public interest, with both out-performing and increasing their own sales. In the end, it was all about the marketing campaign, and stirring up controversy; gaining positive or negative attraction is still gaining attraction. People are going to support the KATSEYE campaign and want to buy from GAP, but some are also going to support the Sweeney campaign and buy from American Eagle. Therefore, this continues to prove that consumerism is political, and who you support matters.