The Sydney Sweeney jeans controversy revolves around an American Eagle ad campaign launched in July 2025 called "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans." The campaign featured a pun replacing "genes" with "jeans," and Sydney Sweeney saying lines like "Genes are down from parents to offspring determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue." Critics interpreted this wordplay and imagery—especially highlighting Sweeney's white, blonde, blue-eyed appearance—as echoing themes of eugenics, white supremacy, or Nazi propaganda, which sparked a major cultural backlash. The controversy quickly went viral, drawing opinions from celebrities, politicians such as Donald Trump, and even the White House. Some accused the campaign of stirring racial and cultural tensions, with allegations it tapped into right-wing or "replacement theory" narratives. Others defended the campaign as simply a jeans advertisement without political intent. American Eagle stated the campaign was only about jeans and fashion, with proceeds going to a nonprofit. Sydney Sweeney herself largely stayed silent on the controversy, only returning to social media to promote unrelated work. The brand saw a surge in sales and market value during the controversy, suggesting the attention had a commercial upside. In addition to the racial undertones controversy, some also criticized the ads for being hypersexualized despite raising awareness for causes like domestic violence. In summary, the controversy was about American Eagle's pun on "genes" and "jeans" featuring a white actress with stereotypical "good genes." This was seen by some as racially charged and provocative in the current American cultural and political context, while others viewed it as an innocuous marketing campaign that got politicized.