"Sydney Sweeney, registered as a Republican, has the most attractive ad out there. American Eagle jeans are flying off the shelves. Go get them, Sydney!" The heated reflection does not come from a fan of the blonde actress. It's from Donald Trump, the President of the USA. He wrote this on his social media platform, Truth, after learning from a journalist, before boarding his official helicopter in Allentown (Pennsylvania), that the actress was registered as a Republican voter. "Now I love her ad. You would be surprised how many people are Republican," he exclaimed with undisguised joy.
Trump's statements caused the clothing brand's stocks to rise by 24%. "It's their best day in 25 years," highlighted The Wall Street Journal, dedicated to following every move of the actress since the launch of the American Eagle advertising campaign resulted in an immediate market value growth of between 200 and 228 million dollars in just one day. The campaign's flagship product, Sydney's jeans, sold out instantly, resulting in additional revenue for the company of over 20 million dollars compared to what they had projected for the current quarter. Figures in line with a celebrity who, in an episode of the series that catapulted her to fame, Euphoria, generated most of the 270 million social interactions derived from it.
"She is the face of ice cream, jeans, loafers... Is there anything she can't sell?," wondered The New York Times in an extensive article analyzing how the actress - born as Sydney Bernice Sweeney on September 12, 1997, in Spokane, Washington - has become a ubiquitous figure thanks to a wave of campaigns where her image sparks debates around beauty, the commodification of fame, or the limits of advertising. They are not the only ones: The Times, New Statesman, Daily Mail, and The Washington Post have all jumped on the Sydney wave with in-depth analyses and extensive reports.
"It is undeniable that the publication of certain headlines immediately triggers reactions in financial markets. However, it is naive to assume that all these movements are the direct result of an objective reading of the facts by rational investors," states Sergio Fernández Borja, founder of KPI Trading and Celon Media Agency, and a specialist in Futures Trading on indices such as Nasdaq and S&P 500.
For Fernández Borja, Sweeney has been "the perfect facade" in markets where "transparency and efficiency are often overshadowed by interests." "What often happens is a coordinated manipulation where news serves as a pretext to direct prices in a certain direction, whether to induce panic, foster euphoria, or in general, create a favorable environment for the interests of certain actors with great influence."
"It was always about jeans," excuses American Eagle. But their ads are scrutinized. "The composition of my body is determined by my jeans/genes," says the actress in one of them, while the camera focuses on her cleavage, and she scolds it with a "Hey! My eyes are up here." Then, a caption appears with the slogan "Sydney Sweeney has good jeans/genes."
The wordplay with "genes" and "jeans," which sound the same in English, has led the ad - and its protagonist - to be accused of "Nazi propaganda," of "winking at eugenics," or "defending supremacism" by reinforcing the idea that some genetic traits - being white, blonde with light eyes, and large-breasted - are superior.
"This campaign may inaugurate an era where we move from a more inclusive and woke trend -often very self-serving but sending a message of integration and giving voice to feminist and socially progressive positions- to a time with campaigns that more explicitly showcase Trumpist neoliberal ideology. Even far-right ideas from some brands," emphasizes Rafael Otero, creative director of Satélite, who believes these ads cannot be separated from the "ideological context in which the actress moves," who registered as a Republican in June 2024.
Sweeney has not made public comments on political issues, but the US President has already become one of her staunchest defenders: "The tide has changed radically. Being woke is for losers; what you need to be is a Republican." Other voices from her party have not hesitated to join the controversy. "Wow. Now the crazy left has spoken out against beautiful women. I'm sure this will have good results in the polls," Senator Ted Cruz from Texas sarcastically remarked.
In Hollywood, when a star emerges, their representatives warn them that it is in bad taste to appear in too many places at once. That doing too much burns the brand. But Sweeney has her own strategy, as evidenced by her presence in campaigns for Armani, Baskin Robbins, Ford, Kérastase, Miu Miu, Guess, Parade, Laneige, or Dr. Squatch, for whom she released a bar of soap made with water from her bathtub. It was a limited edition of 5,000 units called Bathwater Bliss. Priced at eight dollars, it sold out in seconds. They are now being auctioned for 1,600 dollars. That's why Forbes labels her as the woman who "has achieved the impossible, getting people to talk about advertising again," and Jeff Bezos is set to invest 1 billion dollars in the actress's new lingerie brand.
"Fame has come to Sweeney at a time in the fashion narrative when the spotlight is very much shifted towards red carpets, more interesting for social media than catwalks. This has made her a highly desired model for certain brands," says Silvia Nieto, editor-in-chief of Yo Dona. "Possessing a non-normative physique due to her ample bosom, which she enhances with plunging necklines and tight pieces that she combines with a still youthful face giving her an unmistakable Lolita appearance, her public perception has also been heavily influenced by the inevitable comparison of her physique with the very stylized one of Zendaya, her co-star in Euphoria and one of the most influential celebrities in style today."
On red carpets and special occasions, advised by her stylist Molly Dickson and occasionally by Glen Oropeza, Sweeney has been seen dressed in brands like Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood, Oscar de la Renta, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana. "In general, apart from the mentioned necklines, and in the same direction, she chooses intense colors like red, which highlight her presence at any event she attends in a constant exercise of aesthetic self-assertion. 'Here I am, and this is my power,' she seems to convey in every appearance. This way of being was already clear in 2021 when she emulated Anna Nicole Smith in a Guess campaign," recalls Nieto.
The same happens on covers, like the one she starred in for Time in their issue dedicated to the most influential people of 2022. "I have never known anyone who works harder or is more ingenious. One moment she makes you cry with laughter, and the next she breaks your heart. She is an unstoppable force," her friend Maude Apatow expresses inside.
And what about her main role: acting? "In her role as an actress and producer, Sweeney has combined everything from fake nostalgic exercises in returning to bygone values in the form of romantic comedies, such as Anyone But You, to independent films with certain progressive values and, of course, not very aligned with the Republican Party: from biracial romances to pregnant nuns prone to satanic abortions. And also physical transformations that distance her from her sex symbol image," says Roberto Morato, film journalist and co-creator of the Point Blank Podcast.
In contrast to Euphoria's protagonist, Zendaya, Sweeney exploited her carnality through social media and red carpets, in "a kind of return to times gone by." "The contrast between attending a Met Gala and appearing on a mechanic's calendar would be a perfect metaphor for the cultural discourse of our time," the film critic emphasizes, seeing the entire debate currently raging around her as "a consequence of the absolutely insane times we're living in."
"In a world absolutely defeated in terms of meaningful values, it's no surprise that everyone is trying to profit from long-gone ideals. On the one hand, the White House, personalized around Donald Trump, eternally obsessed with pop culture and social gossip, using the actress for ideological purposes and trying to convey the image of an already buried America. And on the other, the actress herself, aware of the cultural moment we're living in, is trying to carve out a career using the tools nature has provided her," he concludes.