The Fantastically Daft Meltdown over Sydney Sweeney’s Jeans

Have you heard about the controversy that is “swirling” around American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney at present? Yes, that American Eagle and that Sydney Sweeney; the clothing outlet and the actress. Oh, you must. You see, the two of them recently teamed up for a marketing campaign, and, together, they made an ad in which Sweeney wore jeans and showed off her figure and drove a vintage car and did other Sydney Sweeney–esque things in front of the cameras. Unfortunately, though, everything “went wrong.” No sooner had the spot debuted than it had been deemed “provocative” and “offensive” and found guilty of “sparking debate.” And not about just any old thing, either. No, sir. The question that was presented by Sweeney’s new American Eagle commercial was whether or not the Nazis were Good.

You read that right. The National Conversation that has been bolted to this transient exhibition of denim has been about . . . eugenics, as conceived within the Third Reich. Swiftly after the ad was released, a handful of people on the internet began complaining that American Eagle had released a white supremacist commercial, and, as is often done, the self-licking ice cream cone was swung immediately into action: Some people were talking about it online, which meant that the press was able write about it as if it were a real story, which meant that the opinion outlets were able to get involved with a clear conscience, which meant that the press was able to write about it some more, which meant that other people were guaranteed to talk about it online, and, before too long, we had one of those perplexing news cycles that start with a single, mind-numbing complaint from the most ridiculous people in the country and end with daily updates on whether any of the figures who are passively involved in the circus have yet “responded to the allegations.”

About the Author

Charles C. W. Cooke

Charles C. W. Cooke is a senior editor at National Review and the host of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast.

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Have you heard about the controversy that is “swirling” around American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney at present? Yes, that American Eagle and that Sydney Sweeney; the clothing outlet and the actress. Oh, you must. You see, the two of them recently teamed up for a marketing campaign, and, together, they made an ad in which Sweeney wore jeans and showed off her figure and drove a vintage car and did other Sydney Sweeney–esque things in front of the cameras. Unfortunately, though, everything “went wrong.” No sooner had the spot debuted than it had been deemed “provocative” and “offensive” and found guilty of “sparking debate.” And not about just any old thing, either. No, sir. The question that was presented by Sweeney’s new American Eagle commercial was whether or not the Nazis were Good.

You read that right. The National Conversation that has been bolted to this transient exhibition of denim has been about . . . eugenics, as conceived within the Third Reich. Swiftly after the ad was released, a handful of people on the internet began complaining that American Eagle had released a white supremacist commercial, and, as is often done, the self-licking ice cream cone was swung immediately into action: Some people were talking about it online, which meant that the press was able write about it as if it were a real story, which meant that the opinion outlets were able to get involved with a clear conscience, which meant that the press was able to write about it some more, which meant that other people were guaranteed to talk about it online, and, before too long, we had one of those perplexing news cycles that start with a single, mind-numbing complaint from the most ridiculous people in the country and end with daily updates on whether any of the figures who are passively involved in the circus have yet “responded to the allegations.”