Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[benji]

I think it's an incredibly braindead ad campaign. They knew it could be perceived offensively and didn't care because well, hello, it's getting engagement

Sometimes I get a reality check re: Era because I'm like omg this is a leftist paradise but y'all love to act really white sometimes

Coming into this thread reading these responses has my head in my hands a bit, I'll admit.

I kinda see it as strike one tbh. If this is a one-off ad then maybe it was just a dumb misfire but if they make more ads along these same lines I'm gonna start thinking they're intentionally doing a Steak n Shake type rebrand.

giant billboards of a blonde-hair, blue-eye white woman next to "great genes" and people offended are being too woke?

They knew what they were doing, y'all are literally making me see red by acting brand new

Yeah, it's a play of words, but the punchline is like…."oh it's not about white supremacy it's about jeans teehee"

It's very cringe and absolutely a dog whistle for alt right.

Yeah, the past little bit has had a few threads that I'm really questioning how some people on era critically view the world

I'm taking a sabbatical from this place y'all are dumb as f*ck

(Edit: sorry that was a little mean let me chill)

Subtext exists?????? History exists?????

American Eagle is not LITERALLY full of eugenics advocates, but it's an ad that should not have gone out. It takes two brain cells to see why someone might find this offensive

i got this vibe immediately when i saw this ad and thought of making a thread, but thought better of it. seeing the response in this thread it's clear many people prefer to not see these things. also, i didn't want to signal boost it by helping fan the controversy engagement they seemed to be looking for

If that infamous PSP ad ran tomorrow, I'm sure people here would be like "They're talking about the colour of the PSP! It's not racist!"

"No, see, Cartman's superhero name is based on him being a raccoon. I don't know what you're talking about..."

This ad is absolutely intentional and I'm surprised people here think its ok.

If that infamous PSP ad ran tomorrow, I'm sure people here would be like "They're talking about the colour of the PSP! It's not racist!"

I had never seen that before it was posted in this thread; what the holy hell

I just expected a like 5-page thread here about this being a super obvious "play" at using dogwhistles, but instead I saw a bunch of people rushing to post how not offended and definitely not racist it was

I can see the problem. The phrase "good genes" in normal conversation might not seem that inflammatory, but taking all of the context into account with this ad campaign...

I thought this was gonna be about objectification at first.

Seeing what it is now, im sure its on purpose. They want that attention. They knew what they were doing.

Talking about the genes of a blue eyed, blonde white person, in the US, is tone deaf at best.

It's got to suck to be Sweeney and knowing these shitty alt-right people have co-opted her as their Aryan ideal. Gross.

But it's also weird she doesn't think the ad couldn't be viewed this way knowing the alt right are trying to co-opt her.

I get the sense that she's leaning more and more into it.

What is there to suggest she'd be upset with that? She seemed perfectly happy to take the bag.

Yeah, she just happens to be white. Like, let's not mince words: they would not be making this ad with a hot brown or black woman in 2025. Are there bigger issues? Yep, totally. But it's not like I'm ignoring all of those to think about why this ad sucks for 30 fucking seconds. It's not that complex.

I am not and never will be sorry for being "outraged" that a company is fucking wink-winking to Nazis.

I think you can just actually highlight her features instead of using the term "great genes" in an environment where POTUS was saying people were ruining the "blood of our country" less than a year ago.

GENES (to me) invokes a scientific feeling, and given the history of race science, and how this ad is obviously something that modern-day racists would blush at, it feels kind of deliberately irresponsible

They probably knew exactly what they were doing with that language. It's incredibly craven and taking full advantage of the political moment to spark controversy and have us fight each other so they can make money.

If that many people are upset about it than I'm willing to believe there is something up with it, but to be honest my first reaction was that the whole "good genes" bit is simply because she is famously hot. A shallow and objectifying ad. Did not personally make a link to nazis and eugenics from this. But I also was not aware of any existing link between her and right wing politics in the U.S. so there's that too.

100% a dog whistle, she should be embarrassed but she is Maga so yeah, probably always the plan to stir outrage. It was nice seeing both poc men and women immediately sus this out for what it is.

My point is that, yes, it is a dog whistle and they're doing it on purpose. The whole "blue eyes" thing in the video gives the game away.

Been following the discourse on this all day...

And yep, using Sweeney to sell this ad is certainly a choice.

Talking about the genes of a blonde, blue eyed woman is not a dog whistle, it is a fog horn. The fact that you, and others, are willing to handwave that is pretty depressing.

Saying someone has good genes is not problematic. Jumping immediately to Eugenics from simply that is a bit much.

HOWEVER the way they used it here with all the other stuff does make it an issue. There are multiple aspects that make you raise an eyebrow and they quickly add up.

Y'all really giving them the benefit of the doubt in USA in the year 2025, after all the bs that's done gone down this year, AFTER last years election. Y'all on something.

The greatest evil is letting things slide until its a mainstream thought. They damn well knew what they were doing.

This ad is specifically made to appeal to people who will take it as an affirmation of their prejudice. They left themselves enough room for plausible deniability, which I guess is all people need. The reason they didn't use someone with black hair, or green eyes, or someone who wasn't white is that the jeans/genes double entrendre wouldn't make any sense then. It wouldn't be an edgy ad.

Ignore list is getting swole after reading through this thread.

The CEO of AE has long had ties to some problematic individuals as well.

Yeah, releasing this ad while the US is going all gas no brakes on Nazism is horrific.

iT's JuSt AbOuT hEr HoTnEsS - that thin veneer of cover is what makes it a dog whistle. It's literally how they work.

Given history and today's political climate I think a ton of y'all need to take some classes on writing interpretation.

Bro, they did not and would not make the ad with Alexandra Daddario because they wanted to make an ad that winked to Nazis. I'm not sure why people are so fucking allergic to acknowledging this?

I encourage all Era posters to read the first page of a thread before you declare something not an issue.

If you still don't see an issue just don't say anything.

Initially, as an Australian, I thought from the opening of the article it was talking about Jeans for Genes Day, a prominent charity day here for schools. Kids wear jeans at school and donate a gold coin for children's genetic disease awareness and prevention. It's a stellar charity that is literally engrained in our culture for the last 20+ years.

What I now understand is it's a pure dog whistle for right whities who feel insecure about themselves so claim it's a great strike to the "woke" plague. Meanwhile, their continual shift to Neo Nazi propaganda and rhetoric makes their grandparents and great grandparents turn over in their graves for fighting against such abhorrent mindsets and ideologies.

A product campaign that is supposed to donate proceeds to victims of domestic violence and this is what they choose as their ad? Really? And you dont see how putting a white blonde blue eyed woman as the face isn't basically saying this is the standard. Becuase conservatives are loving it right now.

Like, I feel like half the people responding ITT would wear a Big Johnson shirt to church. "Oh it sounds like it's talking about a big dick, but the nerd on the shirt is Big Johnson so it's just talking about him!"

This isn't even a dog whistle, it's the whole fucking dog....but sure! It's nothing & people are just over reacting/s......

threads like this reminds me that being naive about certain things is a privelege

You don't understand how in a country deliberately deporting brown people or rounding them up en masse to put in camps where they are concentrated that an ad where a blonde haired blue eyed actress is wink wink called out for having good genes is controversial?

The current administration literally came out and said their south Africa refugee program IS JUST FOR WHITE PEOPLE.

No, of course people seeing the subtext for what it fucking is are crazy.


Edit: and I guess all the self admitted white supremacists on Twitter celebrating this ad as an end to woke dei are crazy too?

It is a PUN! They could have used Chase Infinity and it would have been THE SAME PUN.

Have people really never heard, "oh she got good genes" before?

Its a pun on genetics, specifically about a Nazi ideal in a country where Nazi policies are being fully and openly embraced by people on power.

Yep, it's a pun. Like, I get all of that. But they chose this specific pun at this specific time in history using a person with these specific traits that just happen to be the ideal of the psychotic hogs in charge of this country? I don't think it's all a big ol' coinky-dink.

I don't think it's the biggest news of the day. I don't think it's the biggest capitulation of a company to appeal to a fascist audience. But I don't think there's any benefit to not call it out for what it is: tone deaf at the absolute best, Nazi shit at worst.

A lot of masks came off in this thread.

This is actually one of the more disappointing threads I've seen in a long time.

This is actually one of the more disappointing threads I've seen in a long time.

Yeah I honestly worry that we've been over run with chuds reading threads like these.

You're replying to a literal Nazi, Fiction.

Also:

Ellie: I just found out that diarrhea is hereditary. It runs in your jeans.

                      ableism?
 

Also also:

A long, long time ago, in my first marketing job, one of my mentors taught me to never give my best idea first. To always lead with an idea I knew wouldn't get taken so that my second idea would look markedly better by comparison.

I'm not gonna lie, this marketing campaign reads like a first pitch someone threw out as a burner and then went "ah shit" when their boss was like "you're brilliant!" and ran with it.