Sydney Sweeney, Brand Deals, and the Cost of Being a Hollywood A-Lister
Last week, Sydney Sweeney participated in an American Eagle ad campaign. On its own, this would hardly be news, as celebrities partner with brands all the time. But this ad in particular set the internet ablaze with controversy. In what was either a titanic PR misfire or a calculated outrage marketing scheme, the campaign centred around the idea that “Sydney Sweeney has great genes/jeans.” One ad placed particular emphasis on the concept, drawing attention to the Euphoria star’s blue eyes and blonde hair.
Critics decried the ad as oversexualised, racist, and even fascistic. Many others—from Twitter users to TikTokers to acclaimed rapper Doja Cat—mocked the ad’s tone-deafness toward the current political climate. However, the backlash drew its own backlash, with many dismissing the criticism as dramatic and overzealous. Among Sweeney’s defenders were Vice President JD Vance and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who called detractors “crazy” and accused them of being against “beautiful women.” For its part, American Eagle has denied any racist intent, stating in an Instagram post that the campaign “is and always was about the jeans.” Sweeney herself has not released a public statement at this time.
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In the ensuing back-and-forth on the ad’s subtextual meaning and what it says about the zeitgeist, a crucial question has been lost: Why? Why does this ad exist, and why has Sweeney—an A-lister by any definition—lent her face to such a loaded project? Sweeney, like many celebrities, is no stranger to brand deals. Throughout her career, she has made over a dozen endorsements for a wide variety of products. She has advertised everything from skincare to sweaters to Baskin-Robbins. Earlier this year, she even partnered with Dr. Squatch to create a soap that supposedly contains her bathwater.
It’s fair to say that advertising makes up a substantial percentage of Sweeney’s income; she herself has admitted as much. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she opened up about the financial difficulty of staying in Hollywood, explaining, “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to.” This sentiment has been echoed by other film and television stars.
“Just because you're in a movie doesn't mean you're rich,” said Abbott Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter to People Magazine in 2024. The star later revealed that she didn't feel financially “safe” until the fourth season of the Emmy-winning show was greenlit.
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"However, being fiscally dependent on advertising and being ignorant of its implications are two completely different things.
In Hollywood, critical and commercial success is not enough to guarantee financial stability—and in the modern age of streaming, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet as a creative. In the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney explained, “They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals... The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”
The topic of residuals has long been a heated debate in Hollywood—one that resulted in the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA’s history. For cable television, companies are required to pay ‘residuals’ to an actor every time they rerun a show in which that actor appeared. However, because there are no reruns on streaming services, streaming companies could get away with compensating actors appallingly little beyond their initial paycheck. Actress Kimiko Glenn revealed in 2020 that she was paid under $30 in residuals after appearing in almost half the episodes of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.
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With this added context, it’s no surprise that ads and brand deals have become a necessary evil in Hollywood. Even after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA agreement set a new standard for residuals, actors like Sweeney are still recovering from the financial strain of previous years.
However, being fiscally dependent on advertising and being ignorant of its implications are two completely different things. Sweeney has been proven to have a knack for marketing. John Ludeke, the senior vice president of global marketing at Dr. Squatch, told The New York Times, “Sydney brings a really strong perspective to all of the brand relationships she has, and she actually vets them a lot.” Meanwhile, Sweeney’s Anyone But You co-star, Glen Powell, attributed the success of that film’s marketing campaign largely to her: “People [want] what’s on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully. Sydney is very smart.” Given this, it seems incredibly unlikely that someone as perceptive as Sweeney would sign onto an advertising campaign without thinking through its implications.
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Whatever the intent behind the American Eagle ad, it certainly succeeded in generating buzz — and that attention appears to have manifested in an increase in stock prices for the clothing company. As for Sweeney, only time will tell whether this controversy damages or benefits her long-term reputation.
by Abigail Hogewood
