After Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad ignited an online “jeans/genes” controversy, Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt used the moment to promote a pair of jeans she owns
Gracie Hunt referenced Sydney Sweeney’s jeans to promote her own
Kansas City Chiefs ‘ heir Gracie Hunt has quietly endorsed Sydney Sweeney after the actor’s latest American Eagle campaign divided and shook up social media.
The ad that spread like wildfire across the land of pop culture played on the words “jeans” and “genes.” In one clip, the social media-labeled Republican star says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” before a narrator adds, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Online detractors instantly called out the wording, arguing that “great genes,” paired with Sweeney‘s blonde hair and blue eyes, was a nod to eugenics.
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Hunt subtly stepped in to back Sweeney after posting an image of herself on Instagram on Wednesday, where she featured her own jeans. Her caption read, “Denim days & dreamy nights. I like the view and my jeans (not American Eagle—but they are American.)”
The photo ultimately was an advertisement for her LTK shop creator account, where fans can follow influential figures and view links to buy their selected outfits.
She focused the ad on women’s clothing brand Frame’s $288 Mellow Wide Ankle Jeans, despite featuring 30 items in the post.
But her mother, Tavia, stepped in to subtly reference Sweeney’s ad by leaning into the wordplay that fueled the controversy.
Tavia commented, I love your jeans. And your genes.”
Gracie responded, “Got them from my momma.”
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Some praised the Hunts for embracing the pop culture moment as a joke, while others accused them of dismissing the larger conversation. Overall, fans seemingly celebrated the outfit and commented the word “Shop” after Hunt promised to DM fans a link to her post to buy all the items.
The moment was just another involving the backlash that has stretched far beyond the 30-second ad.
University scholars, such as Northwestern University linguistic anthropologist Shalini Shankar, said that the ad could potentially rebrand American Eagle for “a particular kind of white privileged American.”
Marketing professor Marcus Collins said that the inclusion of other races in the ad would have prevented the controversy.
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On the other side, Political analysts like Megyn Kelly and Lauren Appell defended the ad and called its allegations “woke.”
“I love how the leftist meltdown over the Sydney Sweeney ad has only resulted in a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes getting 1000x the exposure for her ‘good genes,'” said Kelly.
For the Hunts, the moment adds an extra layer of attention following news that Gracie began dating the son of former Chiefs quarterback Trent Green.