American Eagle store traffic drops nearly 4% amid Sydney Sweeney backlash, data firm says

Last week, the fashion brand released its “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ad campaign sending its stock price up 20%. But the brand also faced backlash for what critics say was a marketing misstep that promoted eugenics, "white supremacy," and "Nazi propaganda.” On social media, people scrutinized Sweeney for her political affiliations and called for a boycott of the brands she’s partnered with.    

Now the controversy could be fueling a drop in American Eagle’s store traffic. Total national store visits dropped an estimated 3.9% last week, according to data from Pass_by, an AI insights company that tracks US retailer foot traffic using a combination of in-store sensors, estimate models, and historical data. 

The dip in foot traffic came after several weeks of strong in-store performance, the data firm said. When segmented by age and region, the data showed that the sharpest declines were among older shoppers and in more conservative areas of the U.S.

“It’s rare to see a sudden, sharp drop like this after months of steady growth,” James Ewen, VP of marketing at Pass_by said in a statement. “When retail foot traffic patterns break trend so quickly, it’s usually cultural, this suggests the Sweeney controversy may be resonating beyond social media and into real-world consumer behavior.”

American Eagle, which reported a first-quarter loss in May, hasn't made enough gains from the ad to compensate for its earlier troubles, and its stock is down a little less than 30% year-to-date.

The ad that sparked the controversy shows Sweeney in head-to-toe denim. "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” the Euphoria actress says in the video. “Often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue."

The video has since been removed from the company’s social media accounts. 

In a Monday post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump applauded the ad and the actress saying, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’”

American Eagle did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication of this story. Last week, the retailer posted a statement on social media saying that the ad “is and always was about the jeans.”

Sweeney has not released any public statements about the ad.

— Ben Kesslen contributed to this article.