The worlds of high-profile celebrity campaigns, polarized political discourse, and the volatile stock market recently collided in a completely unexpected way, all thanks to a pair of denim jeans. The event that set off this chain reaction? A single, highly public endorsement from former President Donald Trump for actress Sydney Sweeney’s latest advertisement for American Eagle.
The campaign in question, playfully titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” quickly became a flashpoint the moment it debuted in late July 2025. The centerpiece of the controversy was a short video where the star of ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The White Lotus’—who is blonde and blue-eyed—discusses heredity. “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” she says in the clip, “often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” The not-so-subtle pun on “genes” and “jeans” immediately drew a fierce backlash online, with some critics claiming the ad subtly promoted ideals of white supremacy or eugenics.
However, what followed was a major cultural and financial twist. Just over a week after the campaign’s launch, Donald Trump weighed in. On a Monday in early August, he took to his social media platform to call the ad the “HOTTEST” out there. In his post, he explicitly tied his praise to Sweeney’s rumored political affiliation. “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there,” he wrote, “It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!”
He didn’t stop there. He used the occasion to criticize companies like Bud Light and Jaguar that had recently faced controversy over their own marketing strategies, claiming they had gone “WOKE” and suffered for it. For the former president, the American Eagle campaign appeared to be the perfect counterpoint in the ongoing culture war.
The impact of his comments was nearly immediate and dramatic. Almost as soon as his post went live, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) stock saw a massive rally. In a single day, the company’s shares soared by more than 20 percent, closing out the day at levels not seen in months. The unprecedented stock surge was a clear indication that the political lightning rod moment had translated directly into investor enthusiasm, whether driven by traditional retail traders or the same kind of meme-stock buzz that has recently swept other brands into the spotlight.
For its part, American Eagle has defended the campaign, insisting the debate over the messaging was entirely off base. The company released a statement saying the ad “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.” They stressed that the core message was simply to celebrate how every person can wear their AE jeans with confidence.
Regardless of the brand’s original intentions, the ad is now undeniably a part of a much larger, politically charged conversation. What started as a cheeky play on words for a new line of denim quickly became a symbolic battleground in the culture wars, proving once again that in the modern media landscape, a single social media post can have a monumental effect on both cultural sentiment and a company’s financial bottom line.