Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
15 September, 2025 (Monday) - By Yoo Jung
In America's denim divide, two brands are telling very different stories. Gap's new campaign starring Katseye, a multicultural girl group, has exploded online with cheerful choreography, nostalgia-tinged music, and a simple message about self-expression. By contrast, American Eagle's campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney ignited weeks of backlash over a pun that many viewers said evoked eugenics, the belief that the human population can be improved by controlling reproduction to increase 'desirable' traits.
Gap's "Better in Denim" spot premiered in late August 2025. It features the six members of Katseye, a girl group often described as a "global girl group" with members from the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. They dance to Kelis's 2003 hit "Milkshake," choreographed by Robbie Blue. The ninety-second video is filled with energy and color, a captivating medium that appeals to early 2000s fashion and the global reach of TikTok dance trends. "This is denim as you define it," Gap said in a press release. The approach is working: the YouTube upload has drawn nearly six million views, with the top comment reading, "Countering THAT controversy ad with a group of successful diverse girls in denim, GAP took that opportunity real fast." However, the ad also faced some pushback from conservatives online, such as a poster with 41,000 likes on X that called it a “woke garbage ad.”
This reception contrasts starkly with American Eagle. Earlier in July, the brand unveiled a campaign titled "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans." The ad featured the Euphoria actress in oversized denim, with text across the screen: "Sydney Sweeny has great jeans." Critics noted the pun on “great genes,” arguing that featuring a blonde, blue-eyed, conventionally attractive actress seemed to evoke language historically tied to ideas of genetic superiority. American Eagle defended its work, stating it was "always about the jeans."
Yet the Sweeney campaign resonated strongly with another audience. Conservative commentators praised the ad for resisting so-called "woke" advertising, and former President Donald Trump declared it the "HOTTEST ad out there" on Truth Social. American Eagle's stock jumped as much as 23 percent following his endorsement.
Gap has long built its campaigns with catchy music and dance, dating back to the 1990s. The Katseye collaboration updates this formula for the TikTok era, centering around diversity and global pop culture. On the other hand, American Eagle's "Great Jeans" campaign is very similar to the provocative denim ads of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Calvin Klein's infamous Brooke Shields commercial, which caught attention due to its controversy.
Ultimately, for Gap, the Katseye ad presents jeans as a medium for individuality, community, and global connection. For American Eagle, the Sweeney ad shows how quickly a marketing gamble can represent something much larger.
