Sydney Sweeney brother pokes fun amid backlash over American Eagle ad campaign

The brother of Sydney Sweeney, who is in the US Air Force, referenced the ad while sharing a career landmark.

Trent Sweeney Jokes About Controversy Over “Good Jeans” Tagline

As Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign continues to draw criticism online, her brother Trent Sweeney has weighed in—with a joke. On Wednesday, August 6, Trent shared news of his promotion to staff sergeant in the US Air Force via his Instagram Stories.

Alongside a photo of his promotion certificate, he cheekily captioned it, “It’s them good jeans,” a direct reference to his sister’s now-controversial ad campaign tagline.

Campaign Sparks Debate Over Eugenics Implications

Sydney, 27, recently partnered with American Eagle for their Fall 2025 campaign titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” The slogan, a pun on the words “jeans” and “genes,” instantly went viral and ignited an online debate over its perceived messaging.

One of the campaign videos—still live on Facebook—features the Euphoria star saying:

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”

Critics argue that this wordplay unintentionally flirts with eugenics, the long-discredited and controversial belief in selective breeding to “improve” the human race. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), eugenics is widely rejected as pseudoscience with dangerous historical implications.

Male Gaze and Vintage Ad Parallels Draw More Fire

Beyond the eugenics-related backlash, the campaign is also facing criticism for catering to the male gaze. One video—now removed from most of American Eagle’s social platforms—shows Sweeney lying down to zip up her jeans, reminiscent of Brooke Shields’ provocative 1980 Calvin Klein commercial, which featured the tagline, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”

Shields’ ad, controversial in its own right, was criticized for its sexual undertones and the fact that she was only 15 years old at the time. Critics argue that Sweeney’s campaign borrows heavily from that aesthetic, further complicating its reception.