Her jeans are blue and her lips are sealed.
Sidney Sweeney preemptively shut down questions about controversial American Eagle ads before appearing at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend.
Sweeney is expected to attend the festival to support her film “Christie,” which plays boxer Christie Martin, which premieres on Friday.
“I’m there to support my film and the people involved in making it. I’m not there to talk about jeans,” Sweeney told Vanity Fair in a preview released Thursday. “The movie is about Christie, that’s what I’m there to talk about.”
Sweeney, 27, also refused to talk about the ads when asked about it in an interview with the August Wall Street Journal.
The “Euphoria” actress gained severe criticism from fans when the ad premiered in July, as she called out the commercial play with the words “jeans” and “jeans.” Many have proposed that the campaign promoted eugenics and “Nazi propaganda.”
In one of the ads, the blue-eyed star with blonde hair talked about how the genes passed on from parents to offspring determine traits such as “hair color, personality, and even eye color.”
She looked at the camera and ended the video by saying, “My jeans are blue.”
The intense outrage from consumers ultimately prompted a broad social media push to boycott the recent film “Americana,” which premiered last month.
The film was widely considered a bomb and a bomb to Sweeney after bringing just $840,000 over a weekend in 1,100 theaters in the US and Canada.
However, Deadline also reported that the film could still be beneficial for small levels of Lions Gate under the Lions Gate premier release label.
Still, the fuss over Sweeney’s ads was enough to blow up critics whose co-star Halsey chose to protest the film with “The Denim Bulls -“.
“You should go see this movie, because (director) @tonytost made an exceptional film in honor of genres he knows intimately,” she wrote on her Instagram story along with the promo poster for the crime thriller.
“His work and his vision are bigger than the 24-hour gossip tabloid Denim Bulls, so the ‘No Me’ singer 30 added.
It remains unclear whether Sweeney will be able to conquer the ongoing controversy with her upcoming film release. But it is clear that the divisive marketing move was a victory for American Eagle.
Despite negative online chatter, American Eagle reported revenue of $1.28 billion in Wednesday’s latest revenue call. This number reflects sales for the quarter ending August 2nd, making this the second highest quarter to date.
The sale will be more detailed. Sweeney’s custom jeans sold out in a week, her jacket sold out in a day, and she had to restock her dedicated “Syd’s Picks” shop online four times.
American Eagle also reported an increase in new customers in all US counties, with brand awareness surged across the demonstration.
The success of this ad received high praise from Craig Bromers, the brand’s chief marketing officer.
