American Eagle and GAP have recently started an unsolicited terf war over their jeans advertisements. On July 23rd of 2025, American Eagle released “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” showcasing their newest partner, Sydney Sweeney. Shortly after, GAP released their own jeans ad, “Better in Denim,” a collaboration with their newest partners, the members of Katseye, on August 19th.
“Great Jeans” comes in several different short ads featuring Sweeney talking about herself, the jeans, or nothing at all, only driving off in a car. Utilizing the homophone of “genes” and “jeans,” the most mentioned version of this ad features Sweeney lying on the floor, buttoning her jeans while saying;
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
In case you’re unaware, Sweeney is a white girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. The idea that Sweeney has good genetics solely based on her features is proudly presented in this advertisement, clearly praising the Eurocentric beauty standard. Many online have equated this to the Aryan race or what the Nazi party saw as the desired look. The idea that blonde hair and blue eyes are what “good genetics” are supposed to look like is furthering that “Nazi view” on beauty standards. In comparison to the GAP ad, where they emphasised diversity.
The GAP ad featured Katseye, a global K-pop group consisting of many different ethnicities. The stark contrast of the lively energy in the Katseye ad compared to the dull, empty atmosphere of “Great Jeans” is rattling.
While both ads focus on a few single people, Sweeney standing from a couch and looking into a mirror isn’t necessarily the most entertaining. Katseye jumping and dancing around with backup dancers, filling the barren space to “Milkshake” by Kelis, however, is admittedly much more attention-getting.
In “Great Jeans,” Sweeney wears a denim set, the pants falling baggily over her bare feet. She wears no accessories, not even shoes, as she speaks plainly. On the other hand, “Better in Denim” shows Katseye in various pairs of jeans or denim sets, styled with simple, but unique clothing and accessories based on personal style and interest.
Showing, not telling, is an important part of advertising. How are we supposed to know if a product works, trusting the word of the actors or voice-over of the ad?
Both ads use showing over telling to a degree, utilizing the importance of visualization to persuade the audience. Katseye dances around, clearly conveying how flexible and movement-progressive the denim is. Sweeney only walks around and tells the audience how comfortable the jeans are. The camera pans multiple times to show that the jeans fit well.
The severe lack of diversity in clothing throughout the several “Great Jeans” ads, a single pair of jeans and a denim jacket only, makes it almost seem American Eagle is advertising Sydney Sweeney rather than their plethora of products. The GAP ad uses Katseye to model their clothing while keeping the attention of the audience in an advertorial manner.
No matter your biases, the better ad from a marketing standpoint is clearly GAP’s “Better in Denim.” The dance in this ad is traveling across social media platforms, clutched in the claws of the algorithm, and throwing it out for millions to see over and over again.
