Let’s get this out of the way up top: Advertising shapes culture. It always has. That’s not up for debate. But not every campaign is a culture war, and not every attractive white celebrity is a dog whistle for fascism.
As a biracial man who’s lived with both overt and coded racism my entire life, I take issues of representation and, quite frankly, racism, seriously. I’ve worked in advertising long enough to remember sitting in a fast-food brand presentation — and later, a Chicago agency meeting for a major car client — where I was explicitly told, “No interracial couples in this work.” Today, I can’t turn on the TV without seeing one in every other spot.
I teach advertising and screenwriting. I write about it every day here at Reel 360. So, I understand the power of media to frame, reinforce, and rewrite social norms. But I also know the difference between dangerous rhetoric and a cheeky pun. And let’s be honest — the outrage over Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle “genes/jeans” ad misses the forest for the low-rise denim.
The ad is not a work of genius. It’s a callback to the kind of wink-wink double entendre Calvin Klein built its empire on. Remember Brooke Shields? The line between “clever” and “cringeworthy” is debatable, sure. But the idea that this campaign actively promotes eugenics or white supremacy is, to be blunt, a reach. Do not come for me, Cancel Culture Squad.
Let’s Talk About Who Sydney Sweeney Is
Sweeney is not a Nazi. Neither is creative director American Eagle President and Executive Creative Director Jennifer Foyle. Sweeney is a 26-year-old actress who happens to be blonde, blue-eyed, and unapologetically voluptuous — a body type she’s been body-shamed for despite her “privilege.” She doesn’t just tolerate the attention on her figure; she capitalizes on it, owns it, and weaponizes it for stardom. That’s not oppression. That’s agency.
And her ad? It’s tame. She gives a tongue-in-cheek breakdown of how genes determine traits like hair and eye color, then says, “My genes are blue.” The narrator jumps in: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” Cue the double meaning. It’s about jeans. And yes, it’s about genes, too; the joke relies on the pun. But that doesn’t mean it’s secretly pushing Aryan purity.
Advertising has always played with wordplay. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it tanks. But not everything with a white woman and a headline is a threat to democracy.
What We Should Be Talking About
While we’re clutching pearls over a Sweeney pun, a far more insidious kind of ad is getting a pass, one rooted in the same lazy racial tropes that should have been retired decades ago.
I’m talking about the new McDonald’s campaign from Steve Stout’s Translation.
The ads are technically slick. The music slaps. But let’s not pretend we haven’t seen this before: exaggerated slang, cartoonish energy, and that familiar “Unc” figure straight out of the Soul Train archives, doing the comedic heavy lifting for the brand. It’s minstrel-adjacent — just sanitized for Gen Z and TikTok.
It’s not a representation. It’s a replication of a stereotype so tired it could take a nap in a recliner and still get cast in a Sprite commercial.
Why aren’t we dissecting that? Why aren’t we interrogating how often Black and brown joy gets flattened into caricature, while “whiteness” gets labeled dangerous for simply showing up in high-res?
Outrage is a Resource. Let’s Use It Wisely.
I’m not here to police feelings. If something makes you uncomfortable, absolutely speak up. But outrage is not an infinite resource. If we cry wolf over ads like American Eagle’s, we dilute the conversation when truly damaging content sneaks by unchecked.
We should be applying our media literacy to actual harm, not projecting our collective anxiety about Project 2025 or DEI backlash onto a denim brand using a 40-year-old pun.
Let’s hold brands accountable, yes. But let’s also apply some discernment. Not every white woman in a campaign is an icon of exclusion. And not every campaign that makes you roll your eyes deserves to be dragged into the Hague.
Here’s What Matters
Brands are reluctantly listening because they’re nervous. They’re trying to navigate authenticity, diversity, and profitability in a culture that moves at the speed of scandal thanks to social media. And sometimes, in trying to please everyone, they please no one.
Here’s a radical thought: Maybe the real solution is better storytelling. Less finger-wagging. More nuance. More empathy.
And maybe, just maybe, we stop scapegoating Sydney Sweeney’s breasts for the sins of the industry.
Let’s get outraged about ads that still rely on racial buffoonery. Let’s push for campaigns that reflect the full spectrum of humanity, not just the algorithmically “safe” version of diversity.
And let’s save our cultural critique for the moments that truly need it. Not for a billboard pun that’s only controversial if you really, really squint.
Let me be clear: I’m woke. Proudly. I’ve lived my life on the receiving end of systemic bias, from casual slights to outright discrimination. I believe in equity, inclusion, and calling out injustice where it lives. But this is where Woke culture gets in trouble.
When we chase smoke instead of fire, when we decide a pun in a denim ad is somehow more dangerous than the buffoonery currently being peddled by legacy brands who should know better. This knee-jerk outrage — the kind driven by what I call the cancel culture crew — ends up diluting the credibility of real, necessary critique.
And it makes it easier for actual offenders to shrug off legitimate criticism as “more of the same.” That’s not progress. That’s performative outrage dressed up as accountability.
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360 News. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
REELated:
Dr. Squatch invites us to take a shower with Sydney Sweeney
