Backlash didn’t fade these blues.
American Eagle’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Nice Denims” marketing campaign, which dropped this summer season, had critics up in arms with its double entendre.
However, whereas the controversy made headlines, the underside line advised a special story: American Eagle says the advertisements are probably the most profitable within the firm’s historical past.
Throughout its newest earnings name on Wednesday, the retailer reported $1.28 billion in income for the quarter ending Aug. 2—its second-highest ever. Executives credited the “Euphoria” actress for a lot of the enhance, with chief advertising officer Craig Brommers calling the marketing campaign a record-breaker.
“Sweeney is a winner, and in simply six weeks, the marketing campaign has generated unprecedented new buyer acquisition,” he mentioned on the corporate’s earnings name.
The gross sales numbers again him up. Sweeney’s customized denims offered out in per week, her jacket in a single day, and her devoted “Syd’s Picks” store on-line has been restocked 4 occasions. The model gained new clients in each U.S. county and noticed model consciousness spike throughout demographics.
Brommers advised The Enterprise of Vogue, “Fingers down, the Sydney Sweeney Has Nice Denims marketing campaign is our most profitable marketing campaign thus far.”
The thrill has even carried over to Wall Avenue. Shares of American Eagle soared greater than 30 p.c after the earnings name, marking one of many retailer’s finest buying and selling days in years.
Since July, the marketing campaign has been a web-based flashpoint. In a single spot, Sweeney tells viewers that traits like “hair coloration, character and even eye coloration” are handed from dad and mom to youngsters earlier than delivering the road, “My denims are blue.”
The advert was rapidly slammed on social media, with critics accusing the retailer of selling eugenics and issuing a “racialized canine whistle” with its play on the phrases “genes” and “denims.”
However the actress herself has remained mum on the controversy, refusing to reply questions concerning the marketing campaign in a current cowl story for WSJ.
American Eagle isn’t backing away, nevertheless. Brommers mentioned Sweeney will proceed because the face of the model, with “new components” of the marketing campaign rolling out this fall.
That push coincides with a high-profile collaboration with Travis Kelce’s Tru Kolors model, the primary assortment of which launched Aug. 27, in the future after Kelce and Taylor Swift introduced their engagement.
The timing was unplanned, Brommers advised BoF, however it certainly labored within the model’s favor: The road offered thrice extra in its first day than earlier collabs offered in per week. A second drop is deliberate for September 24.
As for Sweeney’s marketing campaign, Brommers mentioned, “The advertising outcomes converse for themselves.”
On this case, the actress’s “nice denims” turned out to be nice enterprise.
