In the 1990s, Michael Jordan said he didn't get political during the height of his fame because 'Republicans buy sneakers too.' A few years ago, Jordan told ESPN he made that comment 'in jest.'
Politicizing your products alienates at least half of your audience. The Left knows this, and they don't care.
Politics über alles and all that.
The Left turned advertising into yet another political platform instead of the promotion of products, pushing things like 'body positivity' and DEI into corporate policy.
This includes making terrible movies that focus more on The Message than being a good film, making 'plus-sized model' Tess Holliday a cover girl, hiring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesman for Bud Light, and this cringe ad from Jaguar that ended up tanking their sales and stock. When faced with backlash, Jaguar doubled down and told critics 'you'll see things our way.'
The message was clear: if you had even the slightest conservative beliefs, we don't want your business and we don't care about the bottom line.
However, virtue signaling doesn't pay the bills, and alienating half your customer base doesn't generate revenue.
The tide seems to be turning on all this, because American Eagle has launched an ad campaign featuring actress and absolute smoke show Sydney Sweeney:
American Eagle — where I worked three years as a teenager at Rivergate Mall — is struggling, stock has tanked. So they just put Sydney Sweeney in a tank top and jeans to be the new face of their brand. Will it work? pic.twitter.com/9rcWlWdWRS
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 24, 2025
Gentlemen, you're welcome.
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to see an attractive woman once again represent a company.
Sydney Sweeney for American Eagle pic.twitter.com/7RFIbKtcPq
— Complex Style (@ComplexStyle) July 23, 2025
I get strong 1990s Calvin Klein ad vibes from these ads, and it's nice to see attractive models again.
Sydney Sweeney for the new American Eagle campaign. pic.twitter.com/TQkOtmObfw
— Sydney Sweeney Daily (@sweeneydailyx) July 24, 2025
The tag line is 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,' and that's some brilliant copywriting.
And it appears to have worked. The ad campaign created almost a half a billion dollars for American Eagle overnight:
A single Syndey Sweeney ad campaign just created $416,449,000 in value for American Eagle in after hours trading. $AEO pic.twitter.com/sERXWz2qPp
— Daniel Foch (@daniel_foch) July 24, 2025
There's a lesson for businesses here if they're smart enough to learn it.
However, I would like to circle back to Michael Jordan for a moment. Even if he made his 'sneakers' comment in jest, he was correct.
Republicans buy sneakers. They buy jeans, too.
American Eagle seems to know this. They picked one of Hollywood's hottest stars -- literally and figuratively -- to be the face of their brand.
Sweeney stars in the TV show 'Euphoria' and rose to wider fame after starring in the 2024 Marvel/Sony flop 'Madame Web.' She's done an advert for Hellmann's mayo and was the talk of the town at Jeff Bezos' Venice nuptials, which she attended because Bezos is helping Sweeney launch a line of lingerie. She has several future film projects lined up, and I know she's adopted a German shepherd named Sully Bear and has a pit bull named Tank, too.
In short, she's everywhere and the media love her. She's turned 'Sydney Sweeney' into a very successful brand, and American Eagle is hoping to capitalize on that.
So what's the point of all this? Of Michael Jordan and sneakers and blue jeans and Sydney Sweeney?
Well, for as ubiquitous as she is and of all the things we know about Sydney, there's one thing that we don't know: her political views. She hasn't shared her thoughts on the Gaza situation. We have no clue how she feels about men in women's sports or who she voted for in November. I don't know what she thinks about Colbert's cancellation, illegal immigration, or Donald Trump.
Sure, we can speculate. She's a celebrity, after all, and scant few of them are known to don MAGA hats. But as far as I'm aware, Sweeney has remained tight-lipped about her views on anything political.
That's just as refreshing as seeing an attractive woman in an ad campaign.
She may be the only person left in the public eye who doesn't insist on sticking herself in the public's ear. And that may be the secret to her success.
