Sydney Sweeney's latest X-rated ad facing major backlash as people spot 'uncomfortable' reference

Critics have slammed a new American Eagle commercial due to what they believe is a controversial reference in its collaboration with Sydney Sweeney.

Released over the weekend, the advertisement sees the Euphoria star posing in a low-cut denim shirt, which she has paired with matching jeans.

In the social media version of the promo video, Sweeney issues a material-based pun directly into the camera: "My body's composition is determined by my genes."

The camera then pans down from the 27-year-old's face to her chest, to which she playfully responds: "Hey, eyes up here."

The ad's tagline then reads: "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans."

According to a horde of online users, the star's latest brand collaboration proves problematic for a number of reasons.

Several pointed out that the campaign seemingly implies that blonde hair and blue eyes are the ideal standard of beauty, whilst others have taken issue with the raunchy nature of the ad in general.

"You know what’s more f*****d up about the sydney sweeney situation and campaign?" one person wrote in a lengthy message online.

"It’s not her choosing to sexualize her body for men, it’s how she uses women’s outrage as rage bait to push her marketing even further and she intentionally keeps doing it again and again."

Another asked of the star: "Is that her only personality?"

Others, however, picked up on a supposed reference included in the ad to another campaign filmed earlier, involving fellow actress Brooke Shields.

For those in need of a reminder, in 1980, a 15-year-old Shields was cast in a Calvin Klein ad campaign, where, in one advertisement, she could be seen writhing around on the floor in an attempt to button up her skinny jeans.

The former child star even became known for uttering the line in another advert: "Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

The campaign triggered uproar at the time, particularly directed at the campaign's tag line. So much so, that it was banned from broadcast on both ABC and CBS in some states.

Shields has previously addressed the controversy, as she told Vogue in 2021 that she had not been prepared for the backlash, adding that she was 'naive' and 'didn't think anything of it' at the time.

In 2023, she told Stephen Colbert on his show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, that she was called 'inappropriate', adding: "That was a phrase I used all the time about my dog, my horse. I was like 'Nothing comes between me or my dog, me and my mommy. It was a phrase'.

Noting the apparent similarities between Shields' hotly-debated advertisement and Sweeney's latest project, one TikToker hit out: "This reminded me of brooke shields Calvin Klein ads…that’s not a compliment."

Another noted: "It's giving the brooke shields jean ad."

"It didn’t age well when they did this with Brooke Shields…just saying," a third pointed out, while a fourth said they found the supposed reference 'very uncomfortable'.

Despite the backlash, a number of internet users have since defended Sweeney, praising the star for using the oversexualisation she has endured by male fans for years to her advantage,

"I actually don’t care that sydney sweeney is capitalizing on her sex appeal after men oversexualised everything she did for years," one claimed, while another pointed out: "So the women are hating on Sydney Sweeney for *checks notes* being hot. Some of you are super pathetic. How does another woman being attractive affect you in any way?"

Tyla contacted Sweeney's representative and American Eagle for comment.