“It’s Time” to Rethink our Approach to Advertising
By Maria Clara Santana | Culture | November 20, 2025
Cover Illustration: The Culture Cut, 2025 / Maria Clara Santana
My favorite pair of jeans is a dark wash, with yellow stitching and a soft bootcut flare. I think we all have a pair we default to, maybe even a favorite brand.
In July, many people’s favorite jean-maker, American Eagle, broke the internet with a controversial ad featuring Sydney Sweeney. On the one hand, critics condemned the wordplay of “good jeans” and “good genes” as markedly tone deaf – or even “eugenicist” – given America’s turbulent political climate. On the other, praise echoed for the advertisement’s disregard for “woke” culture and its disregard for insistent analysis of things that are “not that deep”.
A similar division resurfaces now, with the release of a Sephora advertisement created in collaboration with Mariah Carrey, promoting her annual “it’s time” slogan to commence the Christmas season. Again, one side bashes its “insensitive” exaggeration of such “crucial topics” as labor unions, mental health and the right to protest. Again, the other argues for lightheartedness, for “a good laugh”.
I don’t have answers. My favorite dark wash jeans are American Eagle and I do not, as some might have it, feel inclined to tear them to shreds. I might, though, think twice about buying another pair.
I don’t have answers, but I have questions. Where does this leave us? Divided in interpretation, shouting towards deaf ears? Is there even such a thing as an unintentional consequence in advertisement?
Because most importantly, I know that when I don’t have answers, advertisers do. As a student of Communication Science, I learn about the extensive production pipeline of a campaign release. In brands as large as Sephora and American Eagle, no controversy is purely coincidental. I am disheartened by the online discourse surrounding these cases, not even because of the controversial precedent they may set, but because of the complete misunderstanding of the communications industry they showcase.
Controversy is one of modern advertisement’s biggest weapons. If you think an ad is offensive, I can guarantee some intern, manager or junior analyst agreed. That’s why it has been put out – because controversy pushes discourse. American Eagle’s ad release coincidentally aligns with a predicted revenue slump. Its explosive release has reverted this entirely.
“Is there even such a thing as an unintentional consequence in advertisement?”
A recent GQ interview with Sweeney, in which she states that her ad “spoke for itself”, further proves the intentionality of the move. The interview was heavily criticized for its absence of real challenge on the topic and ends its discussion of the ad with Sweeney stating that “people will hear” when she finds issues important enough to be addressed. The message is clear: she does not want to speak about this because she does not deem it important. So much so that she agreed to star in the ad, aware of its implications.
I cannot call this choice an innocent one. Celebrities, with their extensive teams of managers, assistants and PR agents, should consider a certain level of responsibility for the content they partake in part of their job description. Similarly, I see it as part of mine as a consumer to think critically about the brands I support. Not because an ad need impact my product choices – after all, who can afford to sacrifice their favorite jeans? – but because it can.
It all comes down to choice. The choice to promote a product through association to harmful controversy, the choice to care. The choice not to care. I am not here to tell you that you can’t choose to buy from a brand, but rather to remind you that it is in your hands. Whether you critically consider ads and take them to heart, or carelessly tuck them in your back pocket – that’s all up to you.
My favorite thing about my favorite jeans is that I chose them. The privilege to choose as consumers, to exist in a sufficiently vast economic era as to be given a choice of products, is one I do not take lightly. I am confident in my choices – are you?
Maria Clara Santana is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
