American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney ad divides young people: poll

There’s a stark partisan divide in how young people are reacting to American Eagle’s viral jeans ad featuring actress Sydney Sweeney.The big picture: The ad has sparked debates over “wokeness,” beauty standards and race — even pulled in President Trump.By the numbers: In a new Generation Lab poll of undergraduate and graduate students across the country, 64% of Democrats strongly or somewhat agreed that the ad felt out of touch, compared with 39% of Republicans.38% of Republicans agreed the ad felt authentic, compared with 10% of Democrats.42% of Democrats said the ad made them less likely to buy jeans from American Eagle. 16% of Republicans and 28% of Independents said the same.There’s also a break in how young men and women are perceiving the jeans ad.39% of young women — the ad’s target demographic — said they’re less likely to buy AE jeans. 21% of male respondents said the same.63% of young women, compared with 44% of young men, agreed that the ad felt out of touch.Between the lines: Though majorities of young Democrats and young women didn’t care for the jeans ad, just 10% of all respondents agreed with perhaps the harshest criticism of the campaign — that it offers a positive portrayal of the discredited belief of eugenics by featuring a play on the words "jeans" and "genes."10% and 8% of young women and men, respectively, said the ad was "trying to endorse eugenics and genetic superiority to sell jeans."13%, 5% and 8% of young Democrats, Republicans and Independents said the same.Methodology: This poll was conducted from August 7-11, 2025, from a representative sample of 1,289 undergraduate and graduate students nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 2.7 percentage points.

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