Rule #35. When an Ad Becomes a Witness to an Era.

The Jean Controversy.

I believe that advertising should always take a stance and make a statement about the times. Recently, two brands, American Eagle and Levi’s, sold the same product — jeans — but approached the era with completely different perspectives. The stark contrast between their ads was a fascinating case study.

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American Eagle: The Ambiguous Genetic War

The story began with American Eagle. At the center of their campaign was Sydney Sweeney, a Hollywood star who is currently a hugely popular and aspirational figure for Gen Z. American Eagle fully leveraged her mainstream image and subtly used the controversial “superior genes” code. In a soft-lit ad with slow camera work, Sweeney says:

“Genes are passed down from a parent to their child, and they can determine your hair color, personality, and even your eye color. My jeans are blue.”

This line was a clever play on words, exploiting the identical pronunciation of “jeans” and “genes.” But this ambiguity quickly spiraled into a massive controversy. The moment Sydney Sweeney, a blonde, blue-eyed actress, mentioned “genes,” the ad was criticized for implying white supremacy or eugenics. Some critics even went so far as to compare it to “Nazi propaganda.” When Donald Trump fueled the debate by calling Sweeney “the hottest,” the ad instantly became a political and racial battleground.

This campaign was likely a calculated gamble to mock the overly sensitive PC (political correctness) debates and use the controversy itself as a marketing tool. It was a high-stakes move for a brand lacking a strong presence. In the short term, the campaign generated immense buzz and a surge in stock prices. While the brand was trapped in a negative frame, the strategy was arguably clever for maximizing brand visibility through controversy.

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In fact, this ad referenced a 1981 Calvin Klein campaign featuring a fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields. In that famous ad, she looked into the camera and said, “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.” The ad caused an uproar in American society with its sexual innuendos using a minor, and it was even banned from being broadcast. Even more shocking, however, was another ad that focused on “genes.” Shields said in the ad, “Genes determine an individual’s characteristics and are passed on to the next generation,” using terms like “selective breeding” and “survival of the fittest.” The result of this gamble was that Calvin Klein, a virtually unknown brand at the time, became a household name across the globe.

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Levi’s: The Legendary Brand’s Elegant Response

Immediately after American Eagle’s controversy, Levi’s took the opposite approach. They chose Beyoncé as their star. Rather than focusing on a rising Gen Z icon like Sydney Sweeney, Levi’s made the savvy decision to feature an “all-time legend” who had shaken up music history.

This ad, which depicts a day in Beyoncé’s life, focuses strictly on the jeans and Beyoncé’s body. The background music includes overtly sexy lyrics like “You call me pretty little things” and “I’m looking super hot.” Instead of stirring up sensitive social issues, this was a way to reinforce the brand’s essence with timeless values and sexiness. While American Eagle used controversy to generate buzz, Levi’s focused on the unwavering value of its jeans.

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The original inspiration for this ad was also a legendary 1980s Levi’s commercial: the “501 Launderette” ad. By reinterpreting this tradition in a modern way, Levi’s employed a traditional strategy to remind a new generation of its deep heritage spanning over 170 years. The scenes of Beyoncé in Levi’s riding a horse through the city or moving between a laundromat and a bar show the enduring value of jeans that doesn’t change with time.

When Ads Transcend Culture and Become the Philosophy of an Era

When discussing American cultural identity, jeans and cars are two indispensable heritage products. While cars symbolize the pioneering spirit of traversing a vast continent, jeans have represented freedom and practicality since the Wild West era and into modern rebel culture. The way products are handled changes with the times, but consumption is a philosophical act that moves in tandem with its era.

Therefore, creative work is not merely a technique for selling products. It is about reading the zeitgeist and speaking to it in the most fitting way. Whether it leads trends, deliberately courts controversy, or breaks taboos, advertising is ultimately born at the intersection of era and culture. And in that brief moment, it transcends selling goods to become a witness to its time.