08/25/2025
The American Eagle debacle with Sydney Sweeney (who, by the way, looked beautiful in that campaign) set off a storm. The tagline “Sydney has great jeans/genes” was meant to be playful, but it sparked backlash around beauty, race, and genetics. 🤦🏽♀️
Then Levi’s jumped in with the risqué Beyoncé’s Reimagine series. No one complained because… Beyoncé.
And then GAP came in and said “y'all, hold my beer,” launching the Katseye collab dancing to Kelis’ Milkshake in a remake of the Bring It On cheer scene.
Now, none of these brands are actually copying each other directly. They’re all just leaning into the same cultural conversation. Love it or hate it, the campaigns all got attention- and attention drives exposure.
Here’s the thing: it didn’t hurt AE long-term. In fact, the company’s stock price even jumped briefly when the campaign was announced.
AE didn’t really lose out. Levi’s and GAP’s “response” campaigns only amplified AE’s visibility. GAP even saw a nice jump in profilability from theirs. At the end of the day, they should be thanking AE.
👉 The takeaway: If you’re going to copy or “join in,” do it so well that people forget about the original. Otherwise, you just look like you’re chasing your competition.
In other words "bitch slap" your competition with creative greatness or look lame as hell trying.
Also… can we talk about how everyone’s arguing about jeans in the middle of a heatwave summer? 😂
