In the United States, a controversy has erupted over actress Sydney Sweeney, who talks about her “great jeans” in a jeans commercial. Why is this commercial causing such a stir? Simone Driessen, media scientist at Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC), explains in the NPO podcast Lang Verhaal Kort (Long Story Short).
The phrase used in the advert sounds the same as “great genes”. The reference is somewhat remarkable because it emphasises the body of a white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes in combination with something that sounds like “genes”. Critics find it an unpleasant pun reminiscent of eugenics (“racial improvement”) or genetic superiority.
Simone Driessen researches pop culture, fandom and media and understands this kind of controversy: "The campaign is linked to eugenics because it implies that Sydney Sweeney represents an ideal image of a certain group of people. It emphasises blonde hair and blue eyes in combination with saying that you have good jeans/genes. Some see this as “Nazi propaganda”, but many also consider the criticism to be nonsense. Sweeney has thus become part of the so-called “culture war” in the United States.”
“To put it simply, this is a metaphorical war over which cultural ideology should prevail. In America, you see a progressive and a conservative group, led by President Trump, facing off against each other. What happens with such jeans (or genes) advertising is that people react very strongly. The right wing believes that such jeans advertisements should be allowed, while the left wing believes that they contain dangerous references that we do not want to take society in that direction. Pop culture is one of the instruments in the culture war," says Driessen.
Is Sydney Sweeney promoting jeans or her white genes? The jeans brand and Sydney are being accused of racism on social media. Others think this is too “woke” and exaggerated.
- Researcher
