After a turbulent summer of marketing controversy surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s ad campaign critics linked to eugenics, American Eagle has unveiled a new face for its brand: Martha Stewart.
The retailer announced its holiday campaign, titled “Give Great Jeans,” with Instagram videos showing Stewart expertly wrapping gifts up in denim.
“Giving generously during the holiday season is one of my greatest joys,” Stewart says in one clip, dressed head-to-toe in a light-wash double denim ensemble accented with a diamond necklace.
Another video shows her smiling and pointing at an embroidered denim label reading: “Live Laugh Low Rise.”
Newsweek reached out to Sydney Sweeney, Martha Stewart and American Eagle’s publicists for comment via email.
A Pivot After the Sydney Sweeney Backlash
The Stewart campaign arrives on the heels of the brand’s summer initiative that stirred significant backlash. In that earlier push, actor Sydney Sweeney fronted the “great jeans” messaging, speaking directly into the camera.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color … my genes are blue,” she said, while seductively buttoning a pair of jeans.
The ad quickly sparked criticism as both marketing experts and social-media users accused the brand of invoking eugenics—an ideology tied to white supremacy.
Sweeney later addressed the backlash in GQ. When writer Lauren Stoeffel asked whether white people should avoid joking about genetic superiority during a fraught political moment, Sweeney replied: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
She added that the ad “spoke for itself,” and described reactions from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance as “surreal.”
With Stewart now stepping in for the holidays, American Eagle appears to be opting for a different type of cultural lightning rod—but not everyone is convinced it’s the right move.
Martha Stewart’s Own Cultural Reload
Stewart’s selection comes amid her own public renaissance. After serving five months in prison in 2004 for insider trading–related charges, she re-emerged as an unlikely pop-culture icon. In recent years, she’s built a viral friendship with Snoop Dogg, posed for Sports Illustrated at 81, and even starred in a Netflix documentary revisiting her legacy.
That ongoing “redemption arc” is exactly what some think American Eagle is tapping into.
“Is American Eagle Trying to Mirror Martha Stewart’s Redemption Arc? Is definitely not the headline I thought I’d see today,” wrote Raegan McKenzie on Threads.
Expert Analysis: What Martha Stewart Really Signals for American Eagle
The Psychology Behind Gen Z’s Martha Stewart Fixation
According to Shampaigne Graves, women’s consumer expert, Gen Z’s fascination with Stewart isn’t random—it’s cultural.
“Gen Z’s obsession with Martha Stewart isn’t random. It’s the collision of perfectionist culture and ironic nostalgia. In a world where everything feels unstable, Martha represents a kind of ‘feminine mastery’ Gen Z was never socialized to have but desperately craves,” Graves told Newsweek.
Graves argues that the partnership hits an emotional sweet spot: “This campaign works because Gen Z grew up watching girlboss culture burn to the ground. Martha is the remix: ‘matriarch energy’ with a wink.” Stewart’s hyper-competent persona functions as a comforting fantasy—one rooted in domestic excellence and aspiration.
But Graves also cautions that the casting reveals deeper tensions about identity. She notes that Stewart is allowed to be the “playful comeback queen,” while women of color are rarely afforded the same cultural grace. “That’s why some viewers are calling this a tone-deaf elevation of an ‘OG problematic white woman.’”
To Graves, this is where the campaign walks a tightrope. Nostalgia casting can land brilliantly—or expose a blind spot. “The virality is great; but long-term brand trust depends on whether AE acknowledges the cultural tension they walked right into. But you know genes jeans are for everybody.”
Audience vs. Customer: Why Martha May Be the Safer Bet
Alexandria Hammond, principal at BrandNEWS PR Consulting Firm, believes the pivot from Sweeney to Stewart is less about shock value and more about realigning with the people who actually buy American Eagle jeans.
“I think it’s a good move for American Eagle because what this tells me is that who their audience is, was not necessarily their customer and that’s what brands need to make sure they remember. Sydney Sweeney has been taking a bunch of ‘L’s’ image wise as of late,” Hammond told Newsweek.
She compares the dynamic to the Caitlin Clark–WNBA discourse: loud cultural commentary doesn’t necessarily equal genuine consumer support.
“This is kind of the thinking I’m applying to American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney when it comes to their customers vs. audience,” she said.
Stewart, on the other hand, brings something more stable. “Although Martha Stewart has a very checkered past, everyone knows what they’re getting with her,” Hammond says. Stewart’s longevity, cross-generational reach, and unexpectedly enduring sex-symbol status create a safer, more familiar persona for the brand to anchor itself to.
Still, Hammond wishes the brand had leaned further into inclusivity: “I don’t hate the choice of choosing Martha, but I do wish they would’ve doubled down on that campaign they had after the initial scandal, and led with more of the diverse voices.”
Social Media Reacts: Plot Twist or PR Misfire?
A Satirical Takedown
According to Salt La Croi (@saltlacroix), American Eagle’s decision to cast Stewart is baffling. She argued that the brand still seems to be “pushing bootcut eugenics,” joking that the “plot twist” of replacing Sweeney with an 84-year-old blonde who “has brown eyes” and “knows a single Black person other than Zendaya” doesn’t meaningfully move the needle.
La Croix also questioned why the brand didn’t choose someone even more controversial, like Paula Deen, and suggested the choice may reflect either a boomer demographic with disposable income or Stewart herself needing new revenue streams.
She noted Stewart’s history as a model and “queen of beige” but said the overall direction feels less like a twist and more like a chaotic “choose your own adventure novel” where the only constant is “more jeans.”
‘Collecting Problematic White Women’
Ariana Cecilia (@arianaceciliaaa) offered a blunt critique, suggesting that American Eagle seems to be gathering “problematic white women as infinity stones.”
She implied the brand’s marketing and PR strategy is both questionably conceived and strangely self-aware.
Why It Might Be Brilliant
By contrast, Casey Morrow Lewis (@caseymorrowlewis) said the move is strategically smart. She pointed out that the campaign works intergenerationally, potentially attracting consumers outside the brand’s usual Gen Z audience.
She also highlighted that Gen Z has recently rediscovered Stewart—so much so that Stewart reissued her 1982 book after it began selling for thousands on resale sites.
According to Lewis, seeing Stewart in American Eagle denim might make younger consumers reconsider the brand, especially given Stewart’s current stature in internet culture.
“She’s not necessarily someone you expect to shop at mall stores like American Eagle. So seeing her decked out in American Eagle denim makes you sort of think, hmm, maybe I should also try out American Eagle denim. I mean, look how chic she looks,” she said.
Marketing Dive’s analysis mirrored Lewis’s take, CMO Craig Brommers explained to editor Jessica Hammers that Stewart is a hot topic right now—across generations.
According to their reporting, the campaign was supported by a study which found that Gen Z’s awareness of Stewart grew by 33 percent between 2020 and 2024.
‘The Branding Doesn’t Add Up’
Girl Boss Town (@girlbosstown) disagreed with the campaign entirely. She argued that while brands often seek unexpected partnerships to generate buzz, pairing Stewart with American Eagle doesn’t feel coherent.
In her view, Stewart would have made more sense for a brand like Mother Denim or Anthropologie. She also criticized the styling, saying the execution lacks clarity and polish.
Fans Approve on Instagram
Despite mixed reactions elsewhere, American Eagle’s Instagram comments leaned positive.
“Yesssssss !!!! The brand is eating up the marketing,” one user wrote.
“Soooo iconic,” added Carolyn.
“The icon of all icons!” another declared.