Elon Musk Responds to Sydney Sweeney’s Controversial American Eagle Ad

Sydney Sweeney’s new American Eagle ad has become the latest surprise center of online outrage, courtesy of a seemingly harmless pun that some critics claim goes over a cultural line.

The advertisement, showing Sweeney in denim, with the words “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” created a stir, both because of its pun and because of how many were beginning to take it to mean something else. Some saw the phrase as a double-entendre, mixing “jeans” with “genes,” where accusations of racial insensitivity and eugenics, in some cases, were levied against her.

The situation was compounded following the release of a short promotional clip (which was taken down soon after) that was circulated on social media in which Sweeney was pictured reclining and zipping up her jeans while a voiceover stated, “My jeans are blue.” Critics argued this relied too heavily on the play on words, and added an uncomfortable tone to the campaign; some claimed it was problematic.

As tensions escalated, Elon Musk chimed in — or, rather, Tesla did. The company’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted a video of its seat-test robot rubbing denim against automobile seats with the caption: “Our seats robot also has great jeans.” A question about whether or not the robot was Sweeney herself was met with this response from Tesla: “No, this is Seatney.”

Musk then re-posted the clip with his take: “Testing rubbing jeans on our seats.”

Fans immediately weighed in. “Missed opportunity. Why not get Sydney Sweeney to do this?” one said on Twitter. Another tweeted, “Can we get Sydney Sweeney to assist, please?”

Although Musk’s quip added some humor to the controversy, it also rekindled discussion of the initial campaign. The contrast between a humorous technology meme and a culturally charged scandal left some laughing and others perplexed, but most importantly, it kept the focus squarely on American Eagle and Sweeney.

Neither American Eagle nor Sydney Sweeney responded publicly to the criticism. Whether the scandal dies down or demands a wider debate about marketing terminology is yet to be seen, but for the moment, at least, one thing is certain: a pair of jeans never set off so much discussion.