Sex sells. It always has. And the ad industry has finally remembered that.

With summer’s final month just a day away, it’s safe to conclude that its most defining stories haven’t come from fashion runways, but from their own marketing departments. The latest example? Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle AW25 campaign, which has managed to provoke pugnacious liberals all over the globe.

The American retailer’s campaign includes several adverts; all of which have generated criticism for differing reasons. The most divisive advert sees the actress reclining on a sofa, murmuring in a sleepy tone that has since become a meme “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My genes are blue.”, before the narrator states “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”.

Progressive critics were quick to accuse the fifteen-second advert of promoting racist undertones, even going so far as to suggest it flirted with eugenicist ideas – based solely on a pun involving “genes” and “jeans”. It is striking to note that a particular group – intelligent enough to be fluent in social justice theory – are unintelligent enough to comprehend how wordplay is one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book. It seems more likely that they’re deliberately ignoring this fact in favour of bending the narrative to suit yet another preloaded, cultural grievance.

One prominent influencer took to Instagram to deliver her perspective, recalling how as a “13 year old girl” she would buy “all of her denim” from American Eagle, but that this new campaign has brought back her childhood trauma as “a brown girl”. She then went on to accuse the advert of upholding “white, Eurocentric beauty standards – which I thought by this point we would have moved on from…”.

So, is the fashion industry supposed to sideline women who possess European beauty traits from representing any future fashion campaigns in order to prevent offending a particular audience? That wouldn’t be progress. That’s aesthetic discrimination, racism, driven by insecurity, and dressed up as activism.

What makes these reactions even more absurd, especially those objecting to its somewhat erotic nature, is that Beyoncé currently stands as the proud face of Levi’s Jeans, and their advertisements are far more erotic than Sydney’s campaign. A prime example is the “Launderette” advert which sees the Texas Hold ’Em singer strut into a launderette – initially with the camera focused on her rear – before she strips down to her underwear as a young male scans her up and down. All of this unfolds to Beyoncé serenading the viewer with the lyrics: “Call me pretty thing, and I love to turn him on, boy I’ll let you be my Levi’s Jeans, so you can hug that thing all day long…”.

Could you imagine the further meltdown if American Eagle had gone full Beyoncé? The usual liberal commentators would’ve been cheering the marketing department out the door, boxes in hand, before lunchtime.

Even without her now numerous brand deals, Sydney Sweeney has proven how beauty can sell again. In the opening scene from Anyone But You, she appears in a pair of Levi’s 501s and a white shirt. It wasn’t an advert but had the effect of one. The look went viral on TikTok, with countless influencers sharing videos of themselves trying on the classic denim cut for the first time – often styled exactly as Sydney wore them. The 501s were reportedly sold out for weeks, and I know this because my youngest employee was among those racing to buy a pair, only to find they’d vanished from shelves. This is proof that featuring an attractive woman doesn’t by default alienate a young female audience.  It inspires them.

American Eagle’s “Genes” advert also likely draws inspiration from Calvin Klein’s 1980 commercial, which featured a then-15-year-old Brooke Shields – twelve years Sydney’s junior – delivering a near-identical script as she eases herself into a pair of blue jeans. This reminder of past marketing tactics is crucial: sensual campaigns have long existed, but some choices, like sexualising minors, rightly belong in the past. Thankfully, American Eagle has kept that boundary firmly intact.

Another detail that bitter liberals have, perhaps consciously, overlooked, is that the jeans Sydney dons include a small butterfly motif embroidered on the back pocket. Far from a throwaway design choice, this butterfly symbolises domestic abuse awareness, a cause close to the actress’ heart. All profits from that design – “The Sydney Jean” – are being donated to Crisis Text Line, a non-profit that supports victims of abuse and mental health crises.

In a marketing landscape increasingly prone to controversy for its own sake – to grab headlines, stir Twitter outrage, or posture as “brave” – this is a rare example of a brand that combines sensuality and substance without apology. It proves a campaign can be beautiful, effective, and morally anchored – all at once. That’s not regressive. That’s balance. And it’s something many brands, caught up in the joyless theatre of modern virtue-signalling, could stand to relearn.

But the most telling thing of all is that American Eagle’s stock price has risen significantly since the campaign launched – just as Levi’s did during Beyoncé’s headline-grabbing tenure. The lesson is hardly new, but it’s worth repeating: sex sells. And it always has. The fashion industry didn’t forget that – it just temporarily pretended otherwise.

Lee Taylor is the CEO and Founder of the marketing agency Uncommon Sense.