Clothing retailer American Eagle is thrilled with the results of its “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” marketing campaign — which became part of the national political conversation — and says it’s planning to do more with the actor later this year.
The company said Sweeney’s jeans collaboration sold out within a week with some items selling out within one day. American Eagle announced the partnership with Sweeney on July 23. Sweeney “is a winner, and in just six weeks, the campaign has generated unprecedented new customer acquisition,” CMO Craig Brommers told analysts on the earnings call.
In after-hours trading Wednesday, American Eagle stock was up nearly 25%.
However, while the company beat Wall Street expectations for the second quarter ended Aug. 2, 2025, American Eagle’s total net revenue of $1.28 billion for the period was down 1% compared with last year and total comparable sales also decreased 1%. Operating profit was $103 million, an increase of 2% versus the year-earlier period, while diluted earnings per share came in at 45 cents, up 15%.
In another celeb tie-up, American Eagle teamed with Travis Kelce — announcing a new design collaboration with the Kansas City Chiefs star’s sports and lifestyle brand Tru Kolors, one day after his engagement to Taylor Swift became public.
American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein said in prepared remarks with the earnings release, “The fall season is off to a positive start. Fueled by stronger product offerings and the success of recent marketing campaigns with Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce, we have seen an uptick in customer awareness, engagement and comparable sales. We look forward to building on our progress and the continued strength of our iconic brands to drive higher profitability, long-term growth and shareholder value.”
According to American Eagle, the Sweeney and Kelce campaigns combined have generated 40 billion impressions to date.
American Eagle’s ad campaign featuring Sweeney was meant to be a lighthearted play on words. In one of the ads, Sweeney says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” then turns to the camera and says, “My jeans are blue.” In another spot, she appears before a billboard that says, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes”; then, the billboard is shown with “genes” crossed out and replaced with “jeans.”
Some online commenters perceived a racist subtext in the genes/jeans play on words — an alleged dog-whistle that glorifies her white heritage as a beauty ideal. Republicans pounced on the backlash as an opportunity to stir the pot.
President Donald Trump, in an Aug. 4 post on his Truth Social platform, wrote, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying [off] the shelves.’ Go get ’em Sydney.” Trump added: “Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.”
Earlier, Trump’s White House communications manager Steven Cheung called the controversy over the American Eagle ads a prime example of “cancel culture run amok.” Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance mocked liberals for creating a hysteria around the American Eagle campaign, saying on an episode of the “Ruthless” podcast: “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi. That appears to be their actual strategy.” However, no prominent Democratic officials have taken a stance on the Sweeney ads.
