American Eagle Outfitters, a U.S. clothing company, successfully rebounded its performance with an advertising campaign fronted by actress Sydney Sweeney. This advertisement had previously faced accusations of racism, as it was said to evoke eugenics.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 3rd (local time), American Eagle reported a net profit of $1.28 billion (approximately 1.78 trillion won) for the previous second quarter, exceeding Wall Street expectations. The net profit was about $300,000 higher than the same period last year, standing at $77.6 million. Thanks to this, American Eagle's stock price saw an increase of around 26% in over-the-counter transactions at one point.
American Eagle grabbed attention by launching the advertising campaign 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans' in July. In the advertisement, Sydney Sweeney mentions 'genes,' a word that sounds similar to 'jeans,' which has led to criticisms that this introduces a racial element.
However, this controversy has been evaluated as having attracted public interest. According to media research firm Karma, interest in searches for American Eagle surged by 186% in the first week of August compared to the previous week, while website traffic increased by 15% in July compared to the previous month. This analysis suggests that noise marketing was effective for American Eagle, which had recorded sales declines for four consecutive quarters.
Craig Brommers, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of American Eagle, emphasized during a conference call, 'This campaign secured an unprecedented number of new customers in just six weeks,' adding, 'Customers are pouring in from all over the United States.'
Experts have evaluated that while the controversy created a short-term impact, it did not negatively affect actual sales. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, noted, 'Sweeney's jeans campaign did not have a significant negative impact on sales despite strong backlash,' stating that 'the outlook for the second half indicates improved momentum.' Furthermore, U.S. President Donald Trump also commented, calling it 'a really great advertisement,' suggesting that the controversy turned into a positive opportunity.
American Eagle claims that its collaboration with popular football player Travis Kelce has also yielded significant effects. Recently, American Eagle announced a collaboration with Kelce's clothing brand, Tru Kolors, and it garnered further attention following reports that Kelce became engaged to pop star Taylor Swift.
However, it remains uncertain how long the advertising effects will last. According to credit card transaction data compiled by Bloomberg, American Eagle, like its competitors, has shown a trend of declining weekly sales growth since the product launch at the end of July.
CEO Jay Schottenstein stated, 'The F/W season is showing a positive start,' adding, 'We will continue to collaborate with Sweeney and launch collections with Kelce to maintain growth in customer awareness, engagement, and sales.'