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

[DavidCroquet]

The jeans display a butterfly motif representing domestic violence awareness, and all revenue from its sales will be donated to the Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering free 24/7 mental health support, according to the campaign.

The genes thing isn't a great look IMO, but at least they're doing this.

decoy to hide the dogwhistle?

[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.

[HaughtyFrank]

Mind you that these are the very same people who claim that "globalize the Intifada" has absolutely no violent implications despite referencing a period with of various terrorist attacks in Israel 

Good jeans/genes though? Basically written by Goebbels

[benji]

I love that there's this post on the first page:

they knew what they were doing? dog whistle? let's just... spell that out. you guys are saying that marketing folks at american eagle decided, collectively, that what they really needed was subliminal aryan marketing, that this was desirable and good and worth their time, because they are so racist that they want to send secret love letters to racists.

And a bunch of people unironically started answering yes to it and by the fourth page you have Fiction's stupidity. (She knows there's no misinformation on TikTok, you can trust her.)

[HaughtyFrank]

Move over Sweeney, its Billy Eillish time

[railGUN]

White people suck!

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

You know it's a good forum when Boredfrom and potato are allowed to absolutely despise each other 

User banned (permanent): - antagonizing fellow members, inflammatory commentary, attempt at thread derail and forum drama, just generally enjoying himself, a history of antisemitic and homophobic rhetoric

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

White people suck!

we do be suckin' frfr

[Boredfrom]

You know it's a good forum when Boredfrom and potato are allowed to absolutely despise each other 

I don’t despise him. But he is an asshole.

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

More that they're not really a third party in a two party system since the 1900s, more that it's always been more or less a three party system and over the long run they've had their ups and downs.

For the corbyn peace and justice rangers they're fighting out for a small chunk of a self-asserting left wing vote that is split across the greens, independents, communists and now the peace and justice rangers featuring j corbz

You are right in the gist of what you're saying tbf but the detail of it is they're silly buggers who can't even field candidates everywhere because they're completely shit

I think I'll believe Messofanego about their ushering in proportional representation by 2030 over you, do you even have a YouTube channel of video essays?

I first have to see you sucking on some chicken wings close up before I know whether I can take your arguments seriously.

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

You know it's a good forum when Boredfrom and potato are allowed to absolutely despise each other 

I don’t despise him. But he is an asshole.

This wouldn't have happened if you listened to me when I told you to kill him.

[benji]

This is now officially a staff approved conspiracy theory thread:

This feels like it is slipping into "friend who is too woke" meme territory.

One of the most effective coups of right-wing counter narrative has been to get liberals and leftists to internalize this idea.

No, they're def referencing the eugenics shit. They're doing it on purpose, but the way they're using the language is designed to leave room for people to doubt and create the exact debate you're seeing in this thread.

To me, that says they're being craven and attempting to make some cash off the controversy. But I'm not going to cast out the idea that they're just bigots out of hand. It's definitely a possibility and is why it's called a dog whistle.

i agree that it's a lame joke. but why would they cater a domestic violence campaign where all the proceeds go to domestic violence support to a demographic that has a history of not caring about domestic violence? it's tone deaf but i'm not sure it's a dogwhistle

Same reason that Terf exist, they need a plausible(Real woman) to share their own view?
And the current mass banning of multiple game in the name of it's only the R18 game, but now even horror game are getting banned?

I mean, think about it. They picked a celebrity who goes viral every time she sneezes. They then used a dog whistle to spark controversy. Social media algorithms love both of those things and said algorithms then pushed the discussion about these ads across the internet. The discussion then got so pervasive across the various platforms that NBC News, a MAJOR source of news for people, wrote an article about it and will probably talk about it on TV.

They def did that shit on purpose, the whole damn thing seems designed to go viral and extend the reach of the ad far beyond what they would normally see. I mean, how often do you hear about American Eagle ads? I know I never see them.

This whole damn thing was on purpose. The only thing that's really up for debate is the motivation behind it. It's either craven or bigoted and there's good arguments for both.

Don't get me wrong, I sympathize with the "why do we always let bad people set the narrative?" frustration. And there are plenty of situations where I would suggest pushing back against that.

But, we also have to know how to walk and chew gum at the same time. We can't ignore history and social context.

A blonde, blue-eyed, sexualized cis white woman delivering a monologue about "good jeans" carries a lot of historical context with it. And very little of it good.

It's actually been explained in detail throughout the thread why the ad is being discussed the way it is.

Perhaps you should read it in full before dismissing it with a laughing emoji.

[benji]

There's literally zero eugenics in that ad at all. Eugenics is not making true or even opinionated statements about genetics.

NOT EUGENICS: Gingers are soulless mutants with corrupt genetics.
EUGENICS: Gingers should be forcibly bred out of the population by the state.

[Besticus Maximus]

There's literally zero eugenics in that ad at all. Eugenics is not making true or even opinionated statements about genetics.

Genetics is such a cis-heternormative thing to even reference in an advertisement, it's like they're just using some terf science to make people buy stuff because they're horny, like we're animals or something 

[Snoopy]

Right in the first ten replies is our hero:
[quote=noodlesoup]

This is dumb internet controversy. It's a pun.

If you attended public school in America, I'm 100% sure that you were taught about critical thinking and media analysis in English class at some point. This is one of those times where those skills are applicable — and it's not even subtle.

Don't be the guy who can't tell their left from their right.

Guy who ended up in jail for nothing then hired the worst lawyer possible is giving a lecture on critical thinking.

[Uncle]

if only nep's victim could've seen this  

[DavidCroquet]

Can you quote all of the posts in this thread that called Sydney Sweeney a Nazi?

Or are you exaggerating and deciding to claim that people discussing an ad with white supremacist dog whistles is somehow calling Sydney Sweeney herself a Nazi?

"this ad is clearly racist, white supremacist, eugenicist, and all of it was intentional. And Sydney Sweeney knew and took the job anyway!"

"lol you guys are insane calling Sydney Sweeney a Nazi"

"you said Nazi, not me!"

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

A reply to JeffMarvel:

for the record, i left this forum a long time ago apart from occasional lurking because as a woman i felt talked down to constantly in amber heard threads by men like you. a lot of you don't actually seem care about women and minorities beyond being performatively outraged.

like, good for you for boycotting the fucking sydney sweeney jeans where the proceeds go to domestic violence support. i bet you'll still give money to the objectively evil walt disney company whenever their next piece of superslop comes out and then talk down to anybody who dares to not like it. priorities clearly in order!

[Taco Bell Tower]

Jeff Marvel Superman is misogynistic?  

[BIONIC]

Jeff Marvel Superman is misogynistic?  

Always has been

[nampad]

Move over Sweeney, its Billy Eillish time

B-b-but billie eilish is an ally 😖
She was only racist to the white adjacent Asians before.

[Alpacx]

“Don’t say ‘gene’”

Watching movies given a 'Thumbs Up' by Gene Siskel is white supremacy

[DavidCroquet]

In the middle of the Obama administration, this is just kind of a corny joke. Today, as we stare down the barrel of fascism, it's no longer a pun, it's borderline a threat.

AE drip in the concentration camps! 

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

In the middle of the Obama administration, this is just kind of a corny joke.  Today, as we stare down the barrel of fascism, it's no longer a pun, it's borderline a threat.

[benji]

All of this is intentional, deliberately designed to draw attention to American Eagle at the expense of thinly veiled allusions to racism that'll make those who understand rightfully upset. And that'll draw the attention of those who think they're too rational and logical and composed to get upset or can't see the problem with talking down on others for being upset over racist innuendos.

Having Sydney Sweeney as the model, someone whose very existence sexist weirdos weaponize to attack other women and "wokeness," was enough to generate discourse. They realized they can generate an even bigger controversy that'll draw attention to the brand with the jeans/genes pun and add more fuel to the fire.

But I guess it's more important to prove you don't get offended.

I responded to someone who dismissed an entire 6-page discussion about racist/white supremacist dog whistles with a laughing emoji.

But I'm the one being condescending.

Got it.

You're referring to like two people in a 6-page thread and dishonestly trying to paint the entire discussion as "Sydney Sweeney is a MAGA Nazi." You know that's not the case.

and saying this is an obvious white supremacist dogwhistle from her and AE.

It is an obvious white supremacist dog whistle from AE.

Multiple people have backed that claim up using logic, the old ad it is clearly referencing, the timing of its release relative to how mainstream Nazism has become, etc.

Jeff uses 25 posts per page?

The Brooke Shields ad is white supremacist?

Also, THE TIMING.

This is just a tone-deaf ad, that says a whole lot about the cultural shift to the right we are currently in the midst of.

Or maybe people assume the worst because things are already pretty bleak, man.

I don't understand how people can look at this ad in the context of today's political climate and fail to derive any meaning from it. This isn't a situation where it requires you to wade through years of historical and sociological material to understand fully. The deliberate usage of genomic terminology with a blue-eyed, "blonde" haired woman is quite blatant in what it's trying to convey if you weren't asleep at the wheel while your seventh-grade English class deconstructed To Kill a Mockingbird.

Don't know what this is but it may just be blissful ignorance, weaponized incompetence, or both.

In the middle of the Obama administration, this is just kind of a corny joke. Today, as we stare down the barrel of fascism, it's no longer a pun, it's borderline a threat.

for the record, i left this forum a long time ago apart from occasional lurking because as a woman i felt talked down to constantly in amber heard threads by men like you. a lot of you don't actually seem care about women and minorities beyond being performatively outraged.

You and I have never had a single interaction before this thread so I can't speak to any arguments you may have had with someone else in an Amber Heard thread three years ago.

But in the end, you're deciding to call anyone who takes issue with this ad "performatively outraged." The majority of people in this thread are perfectly calm and level-headed in their criticism of the ad. That doesn't mean you have to agree. But as you said yourself, you haven't posted on this site for years, and your return was to defend American Eagle's problematic Sydney Sweeney ad.

Why is this something that you are so passionately defending? People have given sound arguments, backed up with facts and history, as to why they find the ad problematic. And the backbone of your pushback is just to say that everyone is being ridiculous and that they need to leave their houses.

For the record: your tone is super shitty and needlessly aggressive.

Well, your response to people criticizing an ad for having white supremacist dog whistles, which have been backed up throughout the thread, was to dismiss them all with a laughing emoji.

i don't care about defending billion dollar corporations. that's your thing.

Again, I have no idea who you are. You have like 60 posts and haven't posted in 3 years before this thread yet you're coming after me with weird personal attacks.

You do not have to agree with the people who think this ad is problematic.

But this, as a response to people criticizing an ad that they believe has white supremacist dog whistles?

it really feels like people on here don't go outside sometimes.

That's bad form. You didn't enter the thread to have a conversation or debate. You came here to belittle people.

Jeff has to be smashing the report button inbetween his mansplaining and refreshing his Nazi feed.

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

Can you guess who this is a reply to?

I don't need to read five pages of other people's opinions before commenting. I read the article, which is sufficient. You clearly have a different take, which is why you responded the way you did.

If it has been so thoroughly explained, there would be no more need for discussion I guess. And that's clearly not the case.

For the record: your tone is super shitty and needlessly aggressive.

[Snoopy]

That's bad form

[benji]

I think you missed the part where things like this *do* matter. Politics is no longer its own separate entity; it is inherently intertwined with social media, pop culture, and our everyday interactions with people. There doesn't exist a world where we can afford to ignore something as reckless and dangerous as this advertisement — meager as it seems at first. Because inch-by-inch, things like this are shifting the needle to a place where inflammatory rhetoric is further normalized. I see it all the time on social media as a person of color. Have you noticed the uptick in racism against Black or Asian people on social media? It always starts with something trivial, then it becomes permanently entrenched into our socialization. Just because we've been dealing with the implosion of white supremacist ideology for a while doesn't mean it's slowing down anytime soon.

Are there bigger things to worry about? Of course, there is. But it's still something worth having a conversation about...especially when it is as blatantly obvious as this.

Genuinely more disturbed by seeing so much glad hand-waving of this obvious dog whistle than by the campaign itself.

This is what I was just about to post myself, it's so blatant especially in this political climate people are practically infantilizing businesses as if they couldn't possibly know the outcome of their messaging

incredible thread

[Alpacx]

A reply to JeffMarvel:

for the record, i left this forum a long time ago apart from occasional lurking because as a woman i felt talked down to constantly in amber heard threads by men like you. a lot of you don't actually seem care about women and minorities beyond being performatively outraged.

like, good for you for boycotting the fucking sydney sweeney jeans where the proceeds go to domestic violence support. i bet you'll still give money to the objectively evil walt disney company whenever their next piece of superslop comes out and then talk down to anybody who dares to not like it. priorities clearly in order!

God bless Sydney Sweeney and her great set of knockers for bringing us so much Era content today.

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

[benji]

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

Please don't post Nazi propaganda in this thread, thanks.