Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle campaign is also drawing comparisons to Brooke Shields' controversial Calvin Klein ad from 1980. Shields' age (she was 15 at the time) ruffled feathers due to the commercial's provocative tagline: "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor.

The title of the ad provoked a flurry of online discourse. Reactions ran the gamut from glee to accusations that the ads promote eugenics.