Symbols are Never Neutral: A Cultural Reading of the Sweeney x AE Campaign

Symbols are something we easily take for granted. They surround us in our daily lives, directing our attention, organizing and communicating important information.

Symbols exist in not just in imagery but in words, music, movement taste, and texture.

Some symbols we are familiar with today are thousands (if not tens of thousands) of years old. They have travelled across countless cultures to reach our current timeline. These ancient ideas hold unimaginable layers of cultural wealth and meaning.

The creative industry, you could say, is a science of symbolism.

As creatives, we piece together letters and imagery into versatile tapestries businesses can use to prominently display their identities, belief systems, and appeal to a larger crowd.

Through our contribution, we actively shape the public’s relationship to symbols, weaving and dissolving familiar stories.

The larger and older the company, the more influence it has over our collective mythologies.

The cultural responsibility creatives hold here is like a canyon — gorgeous, immense, and profound. We are our generation’s storytellers, myth-makers, bards, making new meaning out of the old.

Image credit: Acacia Johnson

In the 21st century, brands have taken the place of religions.

Your identity as a consumer is shaped by where and who you spend your money on. The brands you support become a part of your personal mythology, taking their places in your pantheon of consumerism.

Cult marketing has taken over the internet, where droves of pious, fanatic followers proclaim their loyalty to their favorite brands.

That’s why when brands go against the very values they’ve built their entire empires on, it feels like a personal betrayal.

When analyzing cultural impact, consider timing, tune, and underlying truth.

Timing: when something is said is just as important, if not more than what the message actually contains

Tune: how the message is expressed

Underlying Truth: what is the implied, unspoken undercurrent behind the message

With this perspective, let’s use cultural intelligence to evaluate the impact of Sydney Sweeney’s recent partnership with American Eagle.

At face value, it seems fairly harmless. A pretty blonde woman showing off her denim. What’s the big fuss?

The ad is inspired by an infamous Calvin Klein ad in 1981, showing 15 year old Brooke Shields giving a speech on how genes are passed down through generations as she’s contorting herself into a pair of jeans. At the time, the ad was so controversial, it was talked about for weeks on the evening news and banned in multiple countries.

American Eagle’s primary target audience consists of Gen Z and young adults aged 15-25, with a special focus on college students. This is arguably our population’s most plugged in demographic.

They are the ones asking themselves major questions, seeing what were traditionally safe options their parents and grandparents crumble before them in the age of AI.

Show me one remotely self-aware 15-25 year old that isn’t having an existential crisis right now.

They are either checking out of reality with drugs and brain rot, frantically trying to adapt to a broken system to please their families, or wearing their hearts on their sleeves as they advocate for human rights, climate awareness, and political change.

In the current socio-political climate we find ourselves in, this ad comes across to many as tone-deaf, promoting a white supremacist agenda. Why? Because of its symbolism.

At least 135,000 people have been deported by I.C.E. in the first 100 days of 2025.

In June, we saw one of the largest protests in U.S. History happen this year, with people all over the world joining forces to spread the message.

Last week, the Trump administration awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build the country’s largest immigrant detention center, a 5,000-bed facility at Fort Bliss, an Army base near El Paso.

Once caught inside the immigration system, it’s easy to lose track of people. There are plenty of accounts of people legally emigrating into the U.S. only to be lost inside the system.

Latino communities across the nation are being terrorized as I.C.E. forces show up without notice in workplaces, hospitals, schools, and restaurants. U.S. citizens are being arrested and deported without criminal convictions. Doctors are being deported. People close to me have started carrying copies of their passports wherever they go. The U.S. Latino event industry is tanking. People no longer feel safe to celebrate in public.

If you have studied the world wars of the 20th century and how dangerous, murderous ideologies rise to power, you know this is a time of extreme concern.

On its own, an attractive blonde woman with blue eyes saying she has great genes is not very offensive. However, when placed within the context that a large segment of the population is currently being persecuted for their genetic origins, it’s an extremely politically and racially charged statement.

Image credit: Vogue Taiwan june 2022 'love issue' cover story by Zhong Lin

The American Eagle ad, whether intentionally or not, reinforces the White House's underlying current of Aryan ideology.

While Sweeney is definitely attention grabbing, AE may have alienated their core audience.

AE's evaluation shot up 400% since last Saturday, but temporary inflation not determine a brand’s longterm cultural adoption.

One thing is certain, inter-racial hatred is emboldened by displays like this.

Only time will tell if their risk pays off. ✸