According to reports, the number of visitors to the American Eagle shops decreased last week after the brand had been criticized for a campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney. According to Pass_by data, the shop visits in the United States decreased by 3.9 percent in the week until August 2 compared to the previous year.
The effects in the south of the country were particularly strong, where the visitors: interior numbers decreased by 9.25 percent. This was opposed to an increase in visiting numbers by 7.36 percent in the northeast; The only region that recorded an increase. If you look at the generations, the activity of the Silent generation decreased by 9.87 percent, followed by the boomers with 6.5 percent. Railments were also recorded for millennials with 5.04 percent and generation Z with 3.63 percent.
The decline in activity follows for several weeks with strong visitors: Interior numbers at American Eagle, according to Pass_by. James Ewen, Vice President Marketing of the platform, commented: “It is rare that you see such a sudden, strong decline after months. If the patterns of visitors: Interior in retail deviations so quickly from the trends.
Cultural effects that go beyond social media
American Eagle started the Sweeney campaign last month, known for their roles in ‘Euphoria’ and ‘White Lotus’. At the center of the campaign was the slogan: ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’. While several pictures and videos had been published in the days before, there were only later controversy.
An outrage triggered a video that has now been removed from American Eagle social media. In it Sweeney, who is white, has blonde hair and blue eyes: “Genes are passed on by the parents to the descendants and often determine characteristics such as hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Through the pun, in which the words ‘genes’ and ‘jeans’ were exchanged, the brand of critics: accused of spreading racist undertones and supposedly promoted the language of Eugenik. In response to the counter-reaction, American Eagle said on Instagram that the campaign ‘always and exclusively deal with the jeans and that you will continue to celebrate, like every: r his AE jeans with confidence’.
Since then, the criticism has only increased because the audience began to question Sweeney’s political connections inside. Since the publication of the campaign, several news agencies have been unveiled that Sweeney has been registered as a republican since 2024. US President Donald Trump had prompted the counter reaction to the advertisement to comment on Sweeney, whose campaign he described as ‘fantastic’.
The controversy had a noticeable effect on the stocks of American Eagle. While they initially climbed last week, the stocks fell with increasing criticism. After Trump’s praise for the advertisement, the brand recovered by 23 percent on Monday, according to the US news broadcaster CNBC.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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