Gap and J.Crew’s former CEO, Mickey Drexler, is not a fan of American Eagle’s advertisement featuring Sydney Sweeney.
In a Rapid Response podcast episode released on Saturday, Drexler said American Eagle handled the fallout from the advertisement poorly by not apologizing. The ad, which featured Sweeney lying on the floor buttoning up her jeans, was accused of promoting eugenics.
“I thought that they should have, and they did not, talk to the issue, went silent. And that created more news,” Drexler, 81, told host Bob Safian.
He said it would have been better if the brand had said, “I screwed up, all right,” and “We learned the lesson.”
Drexler is a retail veteran. According to his LinkedIn, he was the CEO of Gap from 1983 to 2002, and J.Crew from 2003 to 2017. He is also the founder of Madewell and Old Navy and was on Apple’s board of directors for nearly 16 years.
He is now the chairman of clothing brand Alex Mill.
The American Eagle ad campaign in July sparked backlash from critics who said it was regressive and promoted eugenics with its slogan, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” Sweeney said in the ad. “My jeans are blue.”
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In response to the criticism, American Eagle said in an August 2 statement on Instagram that the advertisement “is and always was about the jeans.”
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone,” the statement added.
The campaign drew support from right-wing circles, including President Donald Trump.
In a post on August 4, Trump wrote, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ’em Sydney!”
American Eagle’s stock has risen 26% in the past month but has dipped about 23% since the start of the year. In May, it reported a net revenue loss of 5% in the first quarter of 2025, posting sales of $1.1 billion.
The Sweeney ad has sparked a jeans advertisement war between denim brands in the country. Gap’s jeans advertisement, featuring the girl group Katseye, went viral on social media for its addictive choreography, set to the 2003 song “Milkshake” by Kelis.
Representatives for Alex Mill and American Eagle did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
