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Emily reacts to the viral American Eagle campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney — and what it says about the cultural moment. Has Sydney Sweeney become the face of the post-woke era? Emily unpacks the internet’s reaction, the backlash, and why this campaign feels like a turning point.
Indeed it is a turning point. As well as a Rorschach test. What comes to your mind when you see a cute little hottie in soft faded jeans driving a vintage Mustang?
What comes to my mind can’t be printed in a family magazine.
I don’t recall every having heard of Sydney Sweeney before this, and I still don’t understand what the big deal is. It is not a cultural turning point if people are still obsessing about who/what is in advertisements. The real, structural cultural change will occur when people stop paying attention to advertisements altogether because they are extraneous, manipulatory, and unnecessary. I have a detailed discussion of this, as well as many other topics, in my new book that deconstructs the culture born of neoliberal economics.
https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Weather-Together-Next-American/dp/B0F78VD3TJ/
The fact that American Eagle has basically told objectors to go pound sand definitely signifies a turning point.