During the Sydney Sweeney ad controversy, American Eagle's marketing team intentionally remained silent, contrary to typical crisis management advice. This allowed them to assess internal data and let the negative sentiment cycle burn out, which ultimately proved successful as public opinion swung back in their favor.
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The backlash transformed a standard ad campaign into a cultural phenomenon that generated 45 billion impressions. This massive earned media reach dwarfed competitor campaigns, demonstrating that provocative work—even with negative reactions—can deliver far greater ROI than a safe media buy.
Despite the campaign being heavily promoted by right-wing figures, the CMO's internal data showed customer growth across the entire US, including in Democratic strongholds like New York and L.A. This suggests the campaign's appeal as a "national phenomenon" transcended the political narrative and resonated broadly with consumers.
The brand's marketing strategy is rooted in the "attention economy," meaning they compete for consumer mindshare against entertainment channels, not just other apparel retailers. This mindset drives them to create campaigns that function like entertainment programming, aiming to "be the conversation" rather than just joining it.
Instead of reacting defensively to negative press, the team reframed the situation as an opportunity. This mindset shift led them to stick to their plan and amplify the campaign's reach by focusing on positive business signals, rather than apologizing or retracting.
The CMO found the barrage of social media comments and unsolicited expert advice to be confusing and frustrating. He made a conscious decision to turn off professional networks like LinkedIn, allowing him to focus on hard data and lead his team without emotional distraction.
When Duolingo's Zaria Parvez made a controversial post, her CMO framed the misstep as a necessary learning experience. This cultural attitude towards risk-taking encourages the creative experimentation required for breakthrough social media, turning a potential firing into a valuable lesson on brand boundaries.
During the campaign's peak controversy, the CMO experienced "alternate universes" where social media sentiment was negative, but internal data on customer behavior, business performance, and ad effectiveness was overwhelmingly positive. This validated their decision to ignore the online outrage and stay the course.
Instead of immediately issuing a statement during the backlash, American Eagle waited nine days. This delay created a vacuum that was filled by other people and media outlets questioning the absurdity of the claims, shifting public sentiment in the brand's favor before they even responded.
During a campaign controversy, the CMO saw conflicting signals: social media outrage versus positive stock performance and sales data. He chose to trust the hard business metrics as the source of truth, giving him the confidence to ignore the noise and hold the line.
The CMO states that when landing a major star like Sydney Sweeney, you can't be "meek." The creative process was intentionally aggressive and bold, designed to "define culture" and generate headlines. While they didn't anticipate the specific eugenics criticism, they fully expected and planned for the campaign to be provocative.