For context, the tagline of the campaign is “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” and, as is explicitly pointed out, the whole thing is a play on Sydney’s “great genes.” Some people have taken issue with the glorification of Sydney’s genetics as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white woman, accusing AE of promoting eugenics and “ white supremacy .”

The White House has entered the debate sparked by American Eagle’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” campaign, which some critics say crosses into uncomfortable territory by playing on themes of "genes" and narrow beauty standards.